


After

by orphan_account



Series: It's Time [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, Hermione hates singing, Love, M/M, Reconstruction, Romance, Singing, Sleeping Pills, Suicidal Thoughts, Twincest, Wakes & Funerals, cooping with grief, possible self harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-04-14 04:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 47,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4549929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Harry Potter fanfic. The battle is over. The war is won. But what damages have been left? Who died and who survived? Can the survivors regroup and move on with their lives, or is the pain too much? How is everyone affected? Who's up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and shaking from night terrors from the battle? Who's contemplating suicide and will they go through with it? Who's lost in whirlwinds of emotion and making bad decisions? Who's co-dependent on sleeping pills? Is anyone possibly doing self harm to get by? Grief stricken and lost, the survivors have to try to not just survive, but learn to truly live life again after the horrific battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle of Hogwarts is over. Who died and who survived?
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J. K. Rowling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, hey. I'm new here so if someone could explain how stuff works around here, I'd appreciate it.  
> Also, this story is on my Watt Pad account, under the same username. So feel free to check that out.  
> 

Harry sits on the ground, head pounding. The war is over. Voldemort is dead. They've won.

It should be amazing. Everyone should be celebrating the dark lord's fall. But its morbid. 

Harry sits up onto his knees and stares at the gray sky. Death and destruction surround him. Hogwarts is in shambles, big blocks of brick and stone lie everywhere. Bodies lay everywhere as well. But not many, as most of the dead have been carried into Hogwarts and lied out in the dining hall for friends and family to see.

 

Now that the fighting is over and all of the Death Eaters have retreated, the survivors are gathering in the dining hall to see who made it. Everyone is searching for their friends and family.

 

Everyone eventually finds who they're looking for, whether it ends in a hysterically happy laugh and warm embrace or someone sinking to their knees beside their deceased relative and crying out in grief and pain.

 

Harry shuffles into the remains of Hogwarts. Several people smile at him with silent praise.

Harry doesn't feel like a hero though. He's extremely anxious now. But he nods at everyone and gives them a small smile.

'I hope Ron and Hermione are alright. Christ, I'll never forgive myself if something happened to them. And what about Ginny? And Luna and Neville? Mr. and Mrs. Weasley? Fred and George? Cho? Where is everyone?' Harry thinks anxiously, picking up the pace a bit as he looks around for people he knows.

Harry walks into the dining hall and stops, overcome with guilt as he sees all of the dead bodies laid out. Ron told Harry that this wasn't his fault, that these people died for the cause and not just for Harry. But Harry still feels guilt welling up inside of him.

Professor Trelawney is going around respectfully closing the dead's eyes and helping people locate their deceased loved ones. 

She spots Harry and smiles at him. Her bottom lip is split and blood is running down her chin. Everyone is pretty beat up from the battle, sporting bruises, blood, broken bones, and missing body parts.

Harry smiles back at her to be kind and continues searching for his friends. 

The first person he sees is Lupin. 

Harry freezes and stares at him. Lupin is dead.

Tonks is kneeling beside him and crying hysterically, her hair black for grief.

Harry feel tears build up in his own eyes as he stares at his 3rd year professor, one of his mentors. One of his friends.

Lupin's eyes have been closed already, some brown strands of his hair feathering over his still face. His one arm is at his side, as if reaching out to comfort someone.

Tonks hears Harry's sniffling from behind her and looks up to see him.

"Harry, you're alright!" She says through a sob, staggering to her feet and hugging him close.

"You are too," Harry says, hugging her back.

"Harry, he's gone. G-Greyback got him, the stupid bastard! He, he snuck up behind us when we were fighting in the Astronomy Tower and killed him. I-I killed him right after the bastard did it, but I w-was too late," Tonks sobs into Harry's hair.

Harry gives her a gentle squeeze and stares morbidly at Lupin.

"He was a good man," Harry chokes out, his throat feeling dry as dust.

"He was. He was loving, gentle, and understanding. Harry, he loved you like a son. He really did," Tonks says, trying to compose herself. 

"He loved you too Tonks. He always told me to find someone who loved me unconditionally, even after they knew about all my mistakes and shortcomings. And he always used you as an example. He said you were the most trusting and loyal person he'd ever met. He-he wanted to start a family with you Tonks," Harry says, tears soaking into the ashy bloody collar of Tonks's shirt.

They're both too upset to talk much more, so they just hug each other. Tonks's sobs can barely be heard over all the noise in the dining hall. There's lots of crying, laughing, and talking vibrating off the walls.

"Tonks, I'll be back. I need to go find everyone," Harry says, giving Tonks a final pat on the back.

Tonks nods in understanding, pulling Harry close again.

"I'm proud of you, Harry. And I know th-that somewhere, Remus is too." She says.

They smile sadly at one another, and Harry takes one last glance at Lupin before he walks away.

Harry sees that Dean and Seamus survived. The two of them are sitting with Hagrid, joking around. They wave at Harry, and Harry waves back.

The Patil twins both died. The two are laid out next to one another, their hands brushing in one last display of sisterly love.

Colin also died. Harry sees the boy laying there, eyes still open and staring straight ahead at nothing.

Harry kneels next to Colin, with a few tears slipping down his face. "I'm sorry Colin. You shouldn't had to have died. No one should have. But you were brave. You were so brave, Colin McCreevy. I'm not sure if it means anything now, but I'm proud of you," Harry mutters, some of his tears landing on the boy's still face. Harry gently slides his eyelids closed, closing Colin's big curious hazel eyes forever.

Harry sits there for a moment, feeling like he's going to puke. 'These people are all dead. And its my fault. These people are all in pain, mourning and grieving, and its my fault. These people are psychically injured, and its my fault.' He thinks.

"HARRY! HARRY!" 

Harry turns around just in time to catch Hermione as she throws herself at him.

"Hermione, gentle....can't.....can't breath..." Harry sputters.

"Oh, sorry!" She apologizes, loosening her grip and hugging him.

Harry hugs her back then sees Ron standing there, grinning like a fool.

"Bloody hell, Harry! We've been looking all over for you," Ron says, joining in on the hug.

"Where have you been Harry? Word got out that you defeated Voldemort, then nobody could find you! People were assuming you died as well," Hermione says, burying her face in Harry's neck.

"I needed to....i guess I sorta needed to come to terms with what had just happened. I was just sitting outside," Harry explains.

"Well, I'm bloody relieved to see you're alright. We were looking for you in the front entrance for awhile. That's where Madam Pomfrey has a miniature clinic set up for the injured. We guessed you'd be there. But we didn't see you and....assumed the worst. That's why we checked in here," Ron says, patting Harry on the back.

"Harry, we need to tell you but Lupin-" Hermione begins.

"I know. I saw him when I came in," Harry gently explains.

"Its sad. Best defense against the dark arts teacher we had, even if he was a werewolf," Ron says.

"Agreed. He was a kind man," Hermione says.

"Yeah. Tonks is really torn up. But everyone is right now," Harry says guiltily.

"Its all over now," Hermione says encouragingly.

"Yeah, but in a way....its not," Harry says, gesturing to the death, mourning, and destruction around them.

"We saw Luna and Neville by the entrance. Both are a little beat up, but everyone is. We gotta tell them we found you, mate. They were worried," Ron says.

Harry looks at his two friends. Hermione's knees are scraped up and bleeding and her face is badly bruised.

Ron has a black eye, his one hand is bandaged heavily, and his face and neck are bruised.

"You both look terrible," Harry says.

"Have you looked at yourself yet?" Ron jokes.

Harry can feel that his nose is broken, and that there's blood all over his face. He also feels a pain in his side and forehead.

"Well, we all made it. And, I want to take the time and liberty now to let you both know how much you mean to me," Hermione says, eyes watery and voice trembling.

She grabs Harry's hand and kisses Ron on the cheek.

"You've both been my loyal friends since 1st year, and you two annoy the piss out of me sometimes and you make bad decisions, but I love you both anyways," Hermione says

Harry and Ron laugh.

"Love you guys too," Harry says with a fond smile.

Ron nods, patting Harry on the back and kissing Hermione on the forehead.

"If you both don't mind, I'm really concerned about my family. Could we look for them?" Ron asks, anxiety evident in his voice. 

"Of course!" Hermione and Harry say at the same time.

They pass by Cho Chang and her surviving friends. All of them are talking quietly and sipping big mugs of hot tea. They are somber, acknowledging the sorrow around them.

Cho waves shyly at them, and Harry smiles at her.

"This is horrid," Hermione mutters, looking around at all of the dead. 

"This is the worst thing that's ever happened at Hogwarts. Its worse than the Sorcerers Stone hidden in the school, and the Baskalisk attacks, and everyone afraid of Sirius on the loose, and worse than the Tri Wizard cup tournament that went wrong, and the-" Harry rants, voice uneven and rapidly blinking tears out of his eyes.

"Oi, stop right there Harry! It is the worst thing, but its not your fault. Do you understand? You didn't CHOOSE for a mental serial killer to murder your parents and trap part of his soul inside of you! It was just shit luck. But you're alright, and its over now," Ron says, grabbing Harry by the shoulders.

Harry sighs and nods, patting Ron on the shoulder. "Thanks mate."

"Anytime."

They continue their search for the Weasley family. 

"Ron! I see your mum!" Harry shouts pointing to their left.

Mrs. Weasley is sitting on the ground with her head in her hands and she's trembling.

"Oh no....oh no.....no no...." Ron mutters, his face paling as her sprints over to his weeping mother.

"Ron wait!" Hermione yells as she and Harry chase after him.

Ron sinks to his knees beside his mother and lets a horrified cry break through his lips. All of the Weasley bodies are laid out together, side by side.

Hermione and Harry arrive a few seconds later and dunk down next to Ron.

Mr. Weasley is dead.

Bill is dead.

Charlie is dead.

Percy is dead.

Harry stares at the bodies in shock. 

"Oh my god," Hermione breathes, pulling Ron close as he sobs hysterically.

Harry grabs Ron's hand and rubs his thumb soothingly over his palm.

Mrs. Weasley looks at them with puffy red eyes from crying. She doesn't say a word. She just reaches over and hugs all three of them and pulls them close. 

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm so sorry," Hermione says, her voice cracking.

Mrs. Weasley simply shakes her head and gives Hermione a peck on the top of her head.

"Oh my god mum! I'm sorry! I-I....how? What..." Ron says shakily, gasping for breath through his tears.

Mrs. Weasley rests her chin atop his head and rubs his shoulder.

"Shhh....shhhh," she soothes, tears running down her tired face.

"Where's Ginny?!" Ron says sounding terrified, looking around in panic.

"Your sister is taking a walk outside. She's just as upset as we are and she wanted some time alone," Mrs. Weasley says in a calm yet sad voice. 

"Fred and George?" Ron barely whispers.

Molly Weasley lets out a shaky breath.

"We don't know. They're no in here, Ginny is looking for them outside."

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry, this is..." Harry croaks out.

Ron squeezes his hand. "Not your fault. Not your fault, mate."

Mrs. Weasley nods, giving Harry a squeeze. "Its not your fault dear. You should be proud of yourself," Mrs. Weasley says.

"I'm sorry too, this is terrifying," Hermione says, tears streaming down her bruised face.

Molly hugs them all close. They all sit there and sob for several moments.

"Mum! I looked everywhere out there and I can't find them!" Ginny shouts, running over to them with tears streaming down her face. "Mum, I think they're dead!" She wails, falling to her knees beside them.

She opens her eyes and sees Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Oh my god," she breathes, a tiny smile lighting up her face as she reaches over and hugs Ron.

Ron hugs her back and kisses the top of her head.

"Nice to see you, Gin," he mumbles.

Ginny then gives Hermione a quick embrace and then hugs Harry. "I was so scared you guys...." Ginny swallows thickly and buries her face in Harry's chest. 

"Yeah, I was too," Harry mutters, stroking her damp hair out of her face.

There's a moment of silence before Mrs. Weasley clears her throat and says, "Ginny, just because you didn't see them doesn't mean they're....gone. Its very confusing and stressful around here right now, they could be anywhere."

"Mum, they're still carrying bodies in here, th-they could be dead," Ginny sobs.

"I don't think they're dead. I think they're off helping everyone regroup," Harry says confidently, rubbing circles on Ginny's back.

"Yeah Gin. I think they're fine," Ron says.

Harry is honestly not so sure whether or not Fred and/or George is alright. He just doesn't want them to suffer anymore .

Ron and Ginny have already lost their father and three brothers.

Mrs. Weasley has lost her husband and three sons.

A few hours pass. The group stays huddled on the floor by the deceased Weasleys.

Ginny is lying by her dad's side, holding his cold limp hand in her own. 

Ron is beside her, one hand on her arm the other holding their father's other hand.

Mrs. Weasley is sobbing as she tuck's locks of Percy's hair behind his ear. 

Hermione has her arms locked around Ron's waist and she has her head buried in his chest.

Harry has one arm over Ron's shoulders and he is holding Hermione's hand in the other.

Silent tears streak down everyone's face.

McGonagall steps up on the remains of the podium in the front of the dining hall.

"ATTENTION!" She screams.

The hall becomes silent besides a few sniffles and choked sobs.

"If you do not know me, I'm Minerva McGonagall. I taught transfiguration here at Hogwarts for 45 years. I am so sorry. I know we are all grieving, confused, and injured. Allow me to shed some light on the situation. We will be preparing dinner for everyone in an hour. We need volunteers to help prepare dinner and serve it. If you are interested in preparing the meal, go speak to Professor Trelawney," McGonagall says, pointing to Trelawney. 

"If you prepare dinner, Professor Trelawney will show you down to the kitchens and give you a task. We will be preparing a stew from broth and vegetables. We also need help serving the meal. If you are interested in helping serve the meal, come speak to me, Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, or Professor Sprout. Dinner will be served soup-kitchen-style. If you volunteer, you will help pour everyone a bowl of stew and a bread roll. After everyone is served, you will also receive dinner. Dinner will be served from the Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration classrooms. I will have someone announce it when dinner is ready and being served. After the announcement, you may calmly form single-file lines outside of the classrooms. Eating dinner is not required, as I understand that many of you are extremely upset and have no appetite," McGonagall says. 

A few stray tears run down her face.

"I apologize again. I know how we are all feeling. Every one of us has lost a mother, father, sister, brother, friend, husband, wife, uncle, aunt, grandparent, or cousin. We mourn for those that sacrificed their lives for the defeat of the dark lord, Voldemort. And we should look at the one glowing bright bit, Voldemort has fallen. The Dark Lord is gone. Now, we must focus on honoring the fallen and reconstructing our lives," she finishes.

Applause breaks out as she steps off the podium and begins to stride away, making her blush.

"She's a badass," Ron says with a small smile.

Harry laughs, but nods in agreement. 

"During the battle, she kicked Death Eater arse. She was steel grit. She had this menacing yet calm face on and she was killing them off in hoards," Hermione says with an appreciative smile.

"Before all this...went to hell she was my favorite professor," Ginny admits, not lifting her gaze from her father's corpse.

"Yeah, her class was great. It was no nonsense and kept an iron grip on jack offs like Draco," Harry says.

"I hate that bloody bastard! You should've den him and his family at the battle, Harry. They took off like a bunch of cowards. Him, his mum, and the great over powering Lucius Malfoy. They all practically ran away from here," Ron says angrily.

"They left during the battle?" Harry asks.

"Yeah, the Malfoys left right after it turned out you weren't actually dead. The cowards turned their backs on everyone and left," Hermione says.

"Really? The Malfoys always acted so...like this battle was what was needed and necessary and Draco always talked like his dad was some badass and a fantastic wizard and that they were in excellent graces with Voldemort-" Harry cuts himself off and shakes his head.

"Draco was all talk," Hermione says with a scoff.

"The Malfoys? Yeah, they're a bunch of kiss-arse-candy-arses. They've got no claims besides being pureblood."

"Tonks!"

"Hello guys, just wanted to see how you're all fairing," Tonks says with a sympathetic smile. She looks over and sees all of the deceased Weasleys and the grin falls off her face.

"Oh my lord," she mutters.

Ron stiffens and rubs warily at his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," She says, giving Ron a big hug.

Molly gets up from beside Bill and makes her way over to them.

"Nymphadora! Good to see you're alright," Mrs. Weasley says. 

Tonks smiles sadly, tears building in her eyes.

"You too, Molly. I'm so sorry, this is awful."

Molly nods, giving Tonks a hug. "I'm sorry too. I heard about your husband," she says.

"Well, we're both widows now. And your sons," Tonks shakes her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Mrs. Weasley morbidly nods. 

"I hate to ask a favor of you, but could you watch the children? I want to go help prepare dinner and I don't feel its right to leave them alone with all of this grief," Mrs. Weasley asks quietly.

Tonks nods. "Sure. I get it. I'll sit here with them and if they're up to it, I'll go get dinner with them."

 

Mrs. Weasley thanks her, gives Harry and Hermione a hug, and gives Ginny and Ron a hug and a kiss before starting to walk away.

"Molly, wait!" Tonks yells suddenly.

Mrs. Weasley turns around to face the.

"Where are the twins?" Tonks asks.

Ginny starts crying and Mrs. Weasley sighs.

"We're not sure at the moment. But if they show up, please come get me," she says.

"Mum, what if Fred and George show up....not breathing?" Ginny asks, voice trembling.

Tears run down Mrs. Weasley's tired face. "Come get me whether my boys show up dead alive."

**********************************************************************************************************

Tonks and the group sit on the floor and mourn. 

The rest of the dining hall is filled with sobs and the sounds of relieved reunions.

"Harry, you may as well take your glasses off," Hermione jokes.

Harry's glasses keep getting fogged up from his tears and he keeps having to take them off and rub the fog away.

Harry laughs a bit and takes his glasses off.

"Your glasses are broken," Ron says quietly.

Harry analyzes his glasses and sees that Ron is right. The nose perch is nearly in half and the glass is cracked.

"Here, I'll fix them," Hermione offers, snatching the glasses off the floor. She whips out her wand and mutters a spell.

"There all better," she says, handing them back to him.

Harry smiles and thanks her as he sets his glasses on his lap.

Harry laughs again.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, you fixed my glasses when we first met. Remember 'Mione? We were on the Hogwarts Express, on our way to Hogwarts for the first time," Harry says with a small grin.

Hermione laughs. "Oh yes, I remember. God Harry, you were holding them together with a piece of tape!"

Ron laughs now too.

"Harry held his glasses together with tape?" Ginny asks, she's currently in Tonks's arms.

"Yeah, I did. My glasses were broken and the Dursleys refused to pay to repair them or get me new ones. So, I had to fix them myself," Harry says with a nostalgic smile.

"They were stupid assholes. Harry, if I'd had it my way you would've been living with my family," Ron growls in anger.

Harry smiles. "Thanks, mate."

Hermione sniffles a bit. "I miss my family, and they don't know who I am and never will again," she says, tears rolling now.

"Hermione, you did what you had to to protect them. And to keep them safe, you had to use a memory spell," Harry says, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Yeah, you did what you had to. You've still got us," Ron says, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, Hermione. We'll be here," Ginny says, looking at her.

Hermione smiles a bit. "Thank you."

******************************************************************************************

Filch walks up to the podium. He whistles to get everyone's attention. The dining hall goes silent.

"Alright, dinner is ready! If you're interested, please go line up outside of the classrooms!" He yells.

A steady stream if people start to flow out of the dining hall.

Awhile ago, Ginny fell asleep in Tonks's arms while the other three kept their position by Mr. Weasley's feet.

"Do you guys want dinner?" Tonks asks.

"I'm kinda hungry," Ron admits.

"Yeah, me too. I haven't eaten in like three days," Harry says.

"Yeah, I could eat," Hermione says.

Tonks gently shakes Ginny awake.

"What?"

"We're going to get dinner. Are you hungry?" Tonks asks.

"A little," Ginny replies.

The group lines up outside of the potions room since it has the shortest line. Hagrid is serving dinner in the potions room. He beams when he spots Harry.

"How you doin' Harry?" He kindly asks as he pours him a bowl of stew.

"I'm....a bit uneasy," Harry admits. "How about you Hagrid?"

"I could definitely be better, but I'm glad to see you," Hagrid replies with a smile.

"How are you Ron?"

"Honestly, I'm not good right now," Ron admits.

Hagrid offers a sympathetic pat on the head to him.

"And you Hermione?"

"I'm like you, I could be better."

"Ginny? Tonks?"

"I'm miserable," Ginny mutters.

"I'm not doing so great."

Hagrid nods understandingly at them as he hands Tonks a bread roll.

"Tell you all what, once I'm done servin', I'll come join you in the dining hall," Hagrid says.

"That'd be brilliant," Harry says happily.

*******************************************************************************************************

In reality, the stew is really only average. But it tastes fantastic to everyone because they haven't eaten in a few days.

Luna and Neville come bounding over to the group, holding hands.

"Harry! Tonks! You guys are alright!" Neville says, giving Harry and Tonks a hug.

"Yes, its nice seeing you again," Luna greets, giving them hugs.

The two see all the Weasley corpses and frown deeply.

"Christ, I'm sorry Ron! I'm sorry Ginny!" Neville says sadly, giving them both a big hug. 

Luna gently takes Ron and Ginny both by the hand. "Yes, I'm sorry too. Your father was a kind and intelligent man. His fascination with muggles fascinated me! He was so witty and curious! And Bill was brave and honest. Even in dark times, he was truthful. And Charlie was funny and a fantastic dragon trainer and researcher. I loved reading his work on dragons! It was amazing. Percy was a bit stuffy and mislead for awhile. But he came back to you in the end and proved his loyalty. He must've really loved you all," Luna says.

Ron and Ginny thank her and rub tears out of their eyes, but they both have small grins on their faces.

Harry smiles. Luna always knows just what to say.

"And Tonks, I'm sorry about Lupin. He was a great teacher and a wonderful man," Neville says. Luna nods in agreement.

They all sit down for awhile until Hagrid joins them.

"Ello Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Tonks," he greets. He sees the dead Weasley's and freezes. Tears spring into his eyes and he scoops Ginny and Ron into a big hug.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry...." He says. 

His tears have a domino affect and within minutes, everyone is crying again.

Ginny sobs into Hagrid's shoulder, body trembling. Ron tries to hold it in and he bites his lip.

"Shh....s'alright....shhhhhh.....let it all out," Hagrid soothes, rubbing Ginny's back.

Harry grabs her hand to try and comfort her. 

"Where are your scheming twins?" Hagrid asks.

"We don't know. We haven't seen them yet," Hermione says.

"I think McGonagall is about to make another speech," Tonks says, pointing up at the podium.

McGonagall steps onto the podium and claps. The hall gets silent.

"Hello again everyone. I hope you enjoyed dinner. The staff and I would like to thank the volunteers who helped prepare and serve the meal. Thank you for giving us your time and effort during this post-crisis time. Now, we are currently looking for volunteers to help clean up in the kitchens from dinner. If you are interested, direct yourself to the kitchen. 

Now, it has come to my attention that everything is extremely confusing right now, so please bear with me. We are going to create a list of the dead's names so that everyone knows. After this list is created, I shall read it aloud so that everyone knows. Not all of the bodies have been recovered yet. If you are interested in helping carrying in the remaining bodies, please go see our caretaker Mr. Filch. After all of the bodies are in here, we need all of you to cooperate and help us identify everyone. I will go around and take names. Thank you all for your cooperation," she says.

"Oh god!" Ginny says, sobbing harder. "George and Fred still aren't here! Oh god! And in a bit we'll find out!" 

"Maybe its better that way....better to know than wonder like this..." Ron says sadly, laying his head pityingly on Hermione's shoulder.

"Yeah, it may be better if you know," Harry softly says, stroking Ginny's palm with his thumb.

"Ginny, will it make you feel better if I go to the entrance and watch them carry bodies in and lookout for your brothers?" Neville offers.

"Yeah, thank you Neville. You're a great guy," Ginny says. 

Neville smiles at her before standing up to go. 

"I'm going too," Ron says as he stands up.

"Ron, are you sure? I mean, god forbid it, but if they do actually carry them in, do you want to see it?" Tonks warns.

Ron determinedly nods. "I already saw three of my brothers dead," he says.

"I'm going too," Harry says, hopping to his feet.

Ginny quickly pulls him back down and gives him a kiss before they go.

**********************************************************************************

The three of them stand in the entrance by the clinic, watching volunteers and Filch carry bodies in.

"I'm going to check the clinic again," Harry says.

Neville and Ron nod as he heads off.

*************************************************************************************************************

Harry looks around the make-shift clinic. Several people are there getting wounds cleaned out, bandaged, bones reset, and a few lying still in a state of unconsciousness.

"Harry Potter! Take a seat and let me reset your nose," Pomfrey says, forcing Harry down into a stool and readying her wand.

"Madam Pomfrey, have you or your nurses seen Fred and George Weasley recently?" Harry asks.

"Yes, but not recently. They came in last night during the battle. Fred was near death and George wasn't doing too well either," she says.

Harry feels his heart drop into his stomach. "Did they live?"

"I don't recall if they died, they didn't die in here.My nurse Linda says they left after a few hours to keep fighting. I haven't seen them since then. I'm sorry Potter, but I just don't remember. I've seen hundred of wizards and witches in the last 24 hours."

Harry nods and thanks her. She says an incantation and Harry's nose is quickly, and painfully, reset.

"Thank you."

"No problem Potter."

Harry looks around the clinic one final time before going back out to the entrance.

***************************************************************************************************

"Were they there?" Ron asks, anxiety clear in his voice.

"No. Have you seen either one of them?" Harry asks.

Neville shakes his head. 

"God, this is awful! The waitings the worst," Ron mutters. Neville and Harry sympathetically pat him on the back.

They watch Filch and a volunteer carry in a girl who can't be older than her 2nd year. Blood is mixed into her brown hair and her Hufflepuff tie is still around her neck.

Harry feels guilt again. It feels like its clawing apart his insides.

"She was young...." Harry mutters.

Ron knows how Harry is feeling and gives him a hug. Harry hugs him back, knowing how Ron is feeling.

"Well there were students in the school when the battle started. But a lot of students survived. I saw a bunch of them in the clinic this morning and even more in the dining hall today," Neville says encouragingly.

Harry nods, still watching Filch as they carry the girl into the dining hall.

After a few more bodies have been carried in, Neville pulls Filch aside.

"Excuse me Mr. Filch, but how many more bodies are there?" Neville asks.

Its not in Filch's nature to be kind or sympathetic, but with last nights events still so vivid, Filch is both of those things at the moment. 

"We're not sure. Are you boys looking for someone?" He asks.

"Two people," Ron replies, tears rolling down his face.

Filch clucks his tongue sadly. "Don't fret. We're searching the school grounds and the forest and making sure we recover every body. If we don't find who you're looking for, they're probably alive somewhere."

Harry, Neville, and Ron wait for about an hour and watch them carry in body after body. None of the bodies are Fred or George. At this point, Ron is extremely anxious and upset. 

Filch and a volunteer are currently carrying in a middle aged man with tan skin and raven black hair. 

"Have you boys found who you're looking for?" He asks.

They shake their heads.

Filch sighs. "Well, we're fairly certain this is the last body. But volunteers are still looking around. You can stay here and wait if you want." 

"What do we do?" Neville asks.

"I guess we should just go back,"Ron mutters.

"Maybe they came over to the group while we were gone," Neville says hopefully. 

"No, if they had someone would've came and gotten us," Ron says.

"I'm sorry, Ron," Harry says honestly.

"This sucks! This is terrible! My mom and sister are upset. IM upset! EVERYONE is upset! I already lost my dad and three brothers! I just want to know what happened to these two!" Ron rants, angry tears running down his face.

Harry embraces him. "Its alright Ron. We're here for you, mate. We'll find them," Hardy promises, giving Ron an affectionate head-butt to the chest.

Neville nods, giving Ron a tight hug.

*******************************************************************************************************************

When Harry, Ron, and Neville arrive back, its evident that they didn't find the twins.

"Did you see them being carried in?!" Ginny asks, panicking.

"No, we didn't see them," Harry answers, hugging her close and kissing her gently.

"Where's mum?" Ron asks.

"She stopped by while you guys were gone. She's volunteering to help clean up the kitchen right now," Tonks answers.

"Bloody fucking hell, I just....I need to know if they're alright!" Ron mutters angrily. 

"It'll be alright, Ron. We'll figure this out," Hagrid promises.

"Yeah, its going to be fine, Ron. Sit down and try to relax," Luna softly says.

"Its hard to relax when you've already lost four family members," Ginny says sourly.

Harry gives her a shy kiss on her cheek. "We get it Ginny. We're all grieving right now, its ok," Harry says.

"Yeah, its alright," Neville says gently.

Ginny gives a shuddering sigh, tears running down her face. 

"Guys, if we just wait-"

"THANK FUCKING GOD!"

Everyone turns around to see the men of the hour. The red-haired blue-eyed twin duo. 

Fred is leaning on George and looks weak, and George doesn't look to good either.

Fred has severe bruising on his neck and face, he is extremely pale, and he appears to have a bad wound on his left shoulder.

George is bruised up and has a bloody scratch down the right side if his face from his forehead to his chin.

Ginny lets out a shriek of pure happiness and bolts over to them. Fred and George look just as thrilled to see her, and the three hug. 

Ron races over as well and joins the hug.

"Fred! George!" Ginny happily cries, tightening her grip on Fred's middle and her grip on George's hand.

"Ginny! Ron!" They cry back in unison.

"Where the FUCK have you two been?!" Ron asks, hugging them close.

"Well, during the battle Fred almost died, so I took him to the clinic. We stayed for awhile, then Fred insisted he was fine, so we set off to fight in the forest, on the border-"

"When we got to the forest, it was almost empty. They're were only 16 Death Eaters hanging around. So George and I killed them off one by one stealthily. But then we got lost-"

"Which is sort of funny since we've been exploring the Forbidden Forest since our first year! But anyway we were lost, and scared, and it was pitch black, right? And we could hear Death Eaters lurking around-"

"But they couldn't see us and we couldn't see them. But we knew they were there, and they knew we were there. It became a game of cat and mouse. But we knew we were screwed. One, I felt ready to faint, and two because-"

"We were tired and injured and we knew they were more powerful than us. So we kept going deeper and deeper into the forest. It was terrifying. They started taunting us and calling out to us. But then-"

"We came across a tribe of centaurs. The centaurs despised Voldemort and were on our side. So they started fighting the Death Eaters and we helped. The centaurs were really strong and eventually all of the Death Eaters ran off or were killed. Fred needed to lie down for awhile, so we did just that. Then-"

"Around sunrise the Centaurs showed us the way back to Hogwarts. By the time we got here it was almost noon. We had trouble finding our way into the building since most of the bridges were destroyed in the battle. It took us an hour to find a way in. When we got in-"

"Professor Trelawney came up to us and asked for our assistance helping find survivors on school grounds. So we agreed to help, but we were extremely worried and anxious. We had no idea who had lived and died and if our family was alright-"

"We finished searching late afternoon. We'd found five injured people and brought them back here to the clinic. We were literally sprinting into the dining hall to look for everyone when-"

"Flitwick stopped and asked us to help serve dinner in the Charms classroom. So, we agreed because we felt we had to. We knew that Voldemort was dead and we were even more worried about everyone-"

"So, after dinner, we rushed here to find everyone and here we are now!" George says excitedly 

"At least your here now," Ginny says happily, tears of happiness streaming down her face.

"C'mon Gin, mum wanted to know if they came," Ron says with a smile. 

"Right, I'll go get her," Ginny says, rushing off into the kitchens.

"Harry! Good to see you. Congratulations on defeating the dark lord!" The twins say in unison, giving him a hug.

"Hermione! Glad to see you're alright. Ron should marry someone with brains or he might as well have his idiot children right now!" They say, giving her a squeeze. She laughs a bit and Ron scowls.

"Neville! Luna! Tonks! Good to see you all! And you too Hagrid! Hows Fang?" 

Hagrid smiles. "He's alright. He's hidin' in the headmasters office still. He's an outright coward, he is." 

Everyone grins and laughs.

"MY BOYS!" Mrs. Weasley screams in happiness, sprinting towards the twins and hugging them close.

"Mum! You're alright!" Fred says with smile, hugging his mother.

"Do you two know how worried we were!?" She scolds.

"We're sorry we got lost in-" George starts.

"Ah! Stop! We have been looking for you all day! We were worried sick! Ginny said she sent Neville, Harry, and Ron to watch Filtch to see if he carried in your bodies!" She scolds.

"Mum, we really are sorry! Please let us explain!" George pleads.

Fred and George repeat their story to their mother. She just scolds them again about getting lost and hugs them again. 

"Mum, where's Charlie? Our story is better than his best dragon story! We've got to tell him!" Fred says excitedly.

"Yeah and dad! He's not going to believe this! This beats his best muggle stories too! And all of Percy's lame ministry stories!" George adds, grasping his brother's hand.

"Even Bill's werewolf story!" Fred says excitedly.

The happy atmosphere dies right then and there, and everyone stares sadly at the oblivious twins.

Mrs. Weasley doesn't say anything. She just gently leads the twins over to the bodies.

There's a moment of silence. 

Then Fred and George both sink to their knees and clutch onto one another. Their sobs are loud and can be heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Feel free to ask :)


	2. Announcements and Seers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> McGonagall continues taking charge and help comes to Hogwarts.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J. K. Rowling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update today. I'd already written this on Watt Pad, so I assumed I might as well post it here.

"It s alright....shhh....." Mrs. Weasley says, trying to console her twin sons as they weep over their father and three brothers.

The twins don't respond, they just sob and cling onto one another.

Harry watches and feels pangs in his chest. The atmosphere has been depressing and morbid for weeks. Then there was a few moments of happiness when they discovered the twins. The twins were their usual selves, joking around and making everyone smile. Then, they saw what had become of their father, Charlie, Bill, and Percy.

Hagrid sets a steady, calm hand on each twins' shoulder and bows his head. He then politely excuses himself to go help volunteers clear away rubble off the paths.

"Harry, I think the body-identification is beginning," Ginny says, pointing over at McGonagall.

McGonagall has a quill and parchment and is walking around the dining hall, taking names.

Harry grasps her hand and they watch her. "Its a good thing we found Fred and George," Ginny mutters.

"Yeah."

"What's McGonagall doing?" Ron asks.

"They're identifying all the bodies," Hermione quips, standing up to watch with morbid curiosity.

"Bloody hell....." Ron mutters.

"It looks like they found quite a few bodies out there," Tonks mumbles.

"You really think it looks like there's more laid out in here?" Hermione asks.

"Yeah, I think there's at least 70 more in here now," Tonks guesses, running a hand through her black hair.

"Well, McGonagall certainly does have a lot of bodies to identify," Luna says sadly with a bow of her head.

"I'll be back, I'm going to go to Remus. Just in case McGonagall can't identify him," Tonks says before walking away. 

"Do you think more people survived or died?" Harry asks, feeling numb as he stares around the room at all the deceased.

"I'd say its 50/50. Half survived and half perished," Hermione estimates.

They all stare numbly around them.

"This feels surreal," Ginny mutters, ducking her head into Harry's neck.

Harry swallows thickly and nods.

"I don't feel like this is happening either," Neville admits.

Apparently a lot if people feel numb. The hall is quieter now, very quiet besides a quiet thrum of voices talking and some quiet sniffling and cries. It almost feels worse this way.

The loudest noise is Fred and George's sobs.

******************************************************************************************

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, Miss Lovegood , Mr. Longbottom, and Miss Weasley," McGonagall greets them all stiffly.

They all nod then shuffle back so that she can see the bodies in front of her.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley," McGonagall greets. 

Molly is standing behind the twins as they grieve with her hands on their shoulders.

McGonagall looks pityingly at the twins. 

"I'm sorry for your loses," she tells them all with a firm nod. She gives Mrs. Weasley a gentle and quick embrace before brandishing her quill.

"This young man was Percy Weasley?" McGonagall gently inquires.

Molly nods, tears returning to her bloodshot eyes.

"And this was Bill Weasley?"

A nod.

"This was Charlie Weasley?"

Another nod and a sniffle.

"And this was Arthur Weasley?"

A sob and a nod.

McGonagall nods, writing the names down. She looks at them all with soft eyes.

"I'm proud of all of you. You fought exceptionally well and were extraordinarily brave," she says.

She then hugs Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville. 

She turns back to Mrs. Weasley. "I can't even begin to fathom the pain you're in. Molly, if your family needs help, let us know," she says, embracing her again.

McGonagall looks at the hysterical twins again and leans down in front of them, giving them both a hug before walking away.

"Did we just get hugged by Minerva McGonagall?" Neville asks as a tiny grin lights up his face.

"Yeah, we did. So she's a badass and a hugger. That's a winning combination," Ron says.

Everyone laughs a little and smiles.

****************************************************************************************************

Everyone waits for McGonagall to finish the list. It takes her two hours, and the sun has set by the time she steps onto the podium. She claps to get silence, then shouts a spell for levitating candles. She then simply claps again and the candles are lit.

Everyone in the dining hall smiles and applauds. "Good, it was getting real dark in here," Neville says.

"Attention everyone! I have constructed a very accurate list of all of the deceased names, but before I read it aloud, will anyone who knows of a missing person come see me? Anyone who's missing someone right now," she calls. 

Only a few people go up.

Harry and Ron turn around to tease Fred and George about how they're were almost on the 'Missing' list. But they snap their mouths shut when they see the twins.

They're still crying, but not as hard due to fatigue. They are still on their knees, holding each other and they're both trembling uncontrollably. Fred has his head on Georges shoulder and George has his knees on Fred's lap.

It seems wrong seeing the twins like this.

Fred and George are the ones who bring smiles and laughter by telling corny, stupid jokes and pulling well planned juvenile pranks. 

Fred and George make people feel better with a well-timed pun or well-placed smoke bomb.

They kidd around and when you're with them, everything is a big joke and you can forget about harsh reality for awhile.

They're not just there for a good laugh though. Fred and George are good listeners, understanding, and know how to break the ice. 

They're also good at giving hugs and knowing how to comfort and cheer up.

They're the ones with smiles on their faces.

And now, that harsh reality they so often ignore hit them hard.

It seems wrong to see them not smiling and laughing. It seems wrong to see them not telling a joke and spreading happiness.

They look utterly miserable and depressed, shaking as tears run down their faces.

********************************************************************************************************

"Does anyone else know of a missing person? Last chance!" McGonagall calls.

"Alright then, please remain silent as I read off the names of the missing: Rye Louise, Lindsay Kinney, Elizabeth Downers, Paul Stein-" McGonagall reads off, her eyes watering behind her glasses.

"If anyone should find any of these people, alive or dead, please let me know. Now, here is the list of the dead that we now honor for sacrificing their lives for the defeat of the Dark Lord: Emily Hunters, Abigail Frentworth, Steven Goini, Desmond Tucks-" the list goes on and on and on.

Everyone in the hall bows their head and stares at their feet. Several sobs can be heard and silent tears are shed by nearly everyone. 

"-Remus Lupin,-" Harry flinches and so do Ron and Hermione. 

Tonks's wail of dismay can be heard in the distance among many other cries.

Ginny reaches out and holds Harry's hand. Harry gives it a squeeze and grabs Ron's hand. Ron squeezes and grasps Hermione's hand. Hermione then grabs Luna's and Luna grabs Neville's. 

They all stand there,hand in hand, bowing their heads as the names are read off.

"-Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Percy Weasley,-" 

Ginny lets out a cry and turns her head into Harry's neck. Harry lies his head atop of hers for comfort.

Ron has silent tears rolling down his cheeks and Mrs. Weasley lets out a pained cry.

Fred and George are sitting on the floor, becoming hysterical again.

The list seems endless and goes on for an hour. By the end most people are crying and look very distressed.

"Blimey, if I wasn't here and I heard that list, I would think everyone died," Neville breathes.

Everyone is silent as McGonagall finishes reading. She stares forlornly at everyone.

"We have lost many of our loved ones in the last 24 hours. We honor and respect their memories. Now, if you wish to leave, please come up to me and claim your deceased and tell me where you want me to send the body or if you want to take it with you. If you stay, what remains of the ministry is going to be sending us blankets, food, clean water, and more medical supplies soon. We have made the basement into a designated sleeping area. But, you cannot leave if you have major injuries. If you are injured, go see Madam Pomfrey in the main entrance. She can fix you up. Now, I call for a moment of silence to honor the fallen."

Everyone bows their heads, and raises their wands like the students did when Dumbledore died. Everyone casts an eerie white glow off their wands. The candles go out.

The hall is deathly silent.

*************************************************************************************************

"I hope the ministry gets here soon. I'm freezing and could really use a blanket," Hermione mutters.

"Yeah, its chilly in here," Neville agrees, pulling his ash covered sweater closer around himself.

"Well, look on the bright side, we get to cuddle now to preserve heat!" Luna says brightly as she snuggles into Neville's side. Neville gets a daft grin on his face and snuggles back into her.

"I'm sorry Luna, but cuddling doesn't really make any of this better," Harry says and he glares at his torn up sneakers.

"Harry, stop blaming yourself," Luna says gently.

Harry looks at her in shock. "I never said-"

"You can't hide anything from a seer Harry. Especially one that knows you," Luna says kindly.

"A seer, huh? What am I thinking right now?" Ron challenges excitedly.

"That would be a psychic, Ronald. Luna is a seer. She can see our emotions and judge very well what we're going to do," Hermione corrects.

"Yes. I can see auras and spirits around you."

"Are there spirits here now?" Ginny asks.

"Yes, many. Most that died in the battle are still here, trying to comfort their loved ones."

"Can you always see spirits?" Ron asks.

"No, only when they want to be seen.....or communicate. I hear them more often than I see them. But I have to open my senses very well to hear or see them," Luna explains.

"Is our dad or brothers here?" Ginny asks, tearing up.

Luna squints around. 

"I'm sorry Ginny, I can't see any spirits right now," she gently apologizes, reaching out to touch Ginny's hand.

"Its alright."

"What's the overall aura of the room right now?" Harry asks.

"Its a mixture. Its mostly black, but there's some gray and a bit of magenta. Oh! And some deep blue," Luna says, gazing around the room.

"What does that mean?" Ginny asks curiously, shifting into Harry's side.

"Well, colors can mean many different things. But from the vibes I'm receiving....the black is for mourning. Yes, mourning, grief, and despair. But that's how we are all feeling at the moment. The black grieving is very overpowering. The gray is for feeling numb and distraught. Gray is for thinking this seems surreal. The deep blue is for sadness. That's it, just plain sadness from lost friends and being upset. The teeny bit of magenta is for love, for the people who found their loved ones," Luna says expertly.

"How about all of us?" Ron asks.

"You're mostly gray right now Ron. But you've go some magenta and black. Hermione is mostly grey as well, with some magenta, black, and a bit blue. Ginny is black and magenta. Harry is mostly black with blue, and a lot of grey and a bit of magenta. Neville is mostly blue and grey with magenta. I'm very blue at the moment with tinge of magenta and black. Mrs. Weasley is mostly black and magenta. At the moment, the twins are mostly black with some magenta," Luna says.

"Huh. That's a really neat special gift, Luna," Neville says.

"Thank you."

"I wonder when Tonks will come back," Ginny mutters.

"I don't know. She probably needs some alone time to grieve," Hermione says.

**********************************************************************************************************

A pale man with nervous brown eyes steps onto the podium with McGonagall. Its been two hours since she read the list of the dead.

"ATTENTION! She yells.

Silence.

McGonagall steps aside and the man clears his throat and wrings his hands.

"Uh, hello. The ministry is already rebuilding itself.The building is already half-way restored.We will help rebuild Hogwarts in about a month, after everything has calmed down. Tonight, I'm here with supplies for you all. My workers and I just filled the kitchens with fresh food and water, and we've brought clean blankets and clothes. Uh, its tragic what had happened, but uh....its over now," he says and his face his bright red. 

Everyone applauds as he practically runs out of the room.

McGonagall steps back on the podium.

"Obviously you don't HAVE to go to bed, but if you want to, head to the basement. There's plenty off room down here. In the basement, there are several crates with blankets and clean clothes, thanks to the new ministry. If you'd like, you can change and we have a few bathrooms working, so you can take a shower," McGonagall says. 

Everyone applauds.

A few people head out of the hall and to the basement. 

"I'm going to go take a shower," Hermione says, standing up.

"Me too," Ginny says.

"Yes, I could use a shower," Luna agrees.

"I'll go with you girls," Molly says.

"I guess I could take a shower too," Harry says.

In the end, they all leave and head to the basement. They all snatch a blanket and find a corner to sleep in.

"When you're done, come back here. Understand?" Mrs. Weasley says, her mother hen instincts coming back to her.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Alright, here's a sweater for each of you to change into. Do you think they'll fit you? By the time I got to the clothing crate, this was all that was left," Mrs. Weasley says worriedly.

"Its fine mum," Ron assures.

***********************************************************************************************

There are four bathrooms that are working, two male and two female. Both are extremely crowded with people.

Harry, Ron, Neville, Fred, and George wait in line to even ENTER the bathroom.

"This is mental," Ron mutters bitterly.

The girl bathrooms are no better.

"This is a really long line!" Hermione exclaims, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hopefully it speeds up. How many shower stalls are in each bathroom?" Molly asks.

"Ten," Ginny answers.

Hermione groans.

***********************************************************************************************

"FINALLY!" Ron says dramatically as he enters the bathroom.

It's extremely noisy and crowded inside of the bathroom. Towels are stacked up on a bench in the corner along with shampoo and bars of soap.

"Just because we're in here doesn't mean we get to shower yet," Harry reminds him.

Ron pouts.

Hermione smiles when she finally enters the bathroom.

"At least we're in the room now," Luna says with a smile.

"Here you girls go," Mrs. Weasley says, handing them each a towel, shampoo, and a bar of soap she found stacked on the bench.

"Thank you."

**********************************************************************************************************

By the time Harry gets into a shower stall, all of the hot water has been used. So the water is freezing cold. But it still feels amazing to wash the ash and blood off his skin and get the dirt out of his hair. 

"Bloody hell! This is freezing!" He hears Ron yell.

"That's because a hundred people used it before you," Harry says in response.

Harry finishes up, turns off the water, and wraps his towel around his waist. 

He gets out so the next person can get in. Everyone is drying off and changing in the open area of the bathroom. Neville looks self-conscious and is trying to hide himself in the corner as he dries off.

Ron doesn't seem to care and is in the middle of the room.

Fred and George found a secluded corner and are drying each other off and talking quietly.

Harry stumbles over a few people to find a space and dries off.

Putting on the clean, warm, oversized, bright red sweater feels fantastic after being filthy for a day and then taking a sub-zero shower. Harry can't help but smile and wrap his arms around himself to feel the fabric shift over his goosebumps. He then pulls on a pair of oversized pants and refolds his towel before walking out.

***********************************************************************************************************

"Oh Christ this is cold!" Ginny shouts the second she gets in. She can hear her mother laughing. 

"Ginny, it can't be-OH LORD!"

Now Ginny, Hermione, and Luna laugh.

Even though its cold, it feels amazing to get clean again. And putting on the clean sweater feels like a warm embrace.

"The green sweater really brings out your eyes Hermione," Luna compliments.

"Thank you," Hermione says with a blush because at the moment she has no pants on.

****************************************************************************************************

Everyone arrives back in the basement around the same time. 

"Were your showers chilling to the bone?" Ginny asks the boys.

They all nod, wrapping their sweaters closer just thinking about it.

"Oh my! The sweaters are huge on all of you!" Mrs. Weasley says with a sigh.

"Its not a big deal mum. They feel great!" Ron says.

Everyone nods their head in agreement. 

Everyone sits on their blankets and chats for awhile. Mrs. Weasley gives each of her children a kiss and Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Neville a hug. Then she rolls over and falls asleep. She's exhausted after such an emotional heartbreaking day.

Harry lies down and is about to fall asleep too. The basement is quit, besides a low murmur of voices and someone singing a lullaby to their children on the opposite side of the room.

The lighting is dim, it's quiet, and he's under a warm blanket and wearing a soft sweater after a very long and painful day. He's ready for sleep.

"Harry? What did you do with the Elder Wand?" Hermione suddenly asks.

"What?" Harry sleepily asks, rolling over to face her.

"The Elder Wand. The wand you used to defeat Voldemort after it choose you over him," Hermione says.

"Destroyed it...." Harry mutters while closing his eyes again and curling further into his blanket.

"You destroyed it?" Fred and George ask curiously.

Harry sighs. "Yeah."

"How'd you destroy it?" Ron asks.

"And when?" Neville asks.

Harry groans and opens his eyes.

"After Voldemort was dead, I wasn't sure what exactly to do with it. But I decided it was dangerous and could be used violently in the wrong hands. So I walked onto the highest remaining bridge, snapped the wand in half, and threw the pieces over."

"That was a wise move Harry," Luna says.

Hermione nods. "Yeah, it was a smart move." 

"I agree it was too," Ron says with a yawn and lies down onto his back.

Ginny leans over and gives Harry a kiss on the nose. "Let him sleep guys. He's exhausted."

Harry smiles up at her in thanks and drifts off.

****************************************************************************************

Some are able to go right to sleep, they nearly pass put because they're so tired and drained. Like Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Luna, and Ginny.

But some are too haunted by the days events and the night prior to drift off. Neville is awake with chills, recalling Bellatrix's taunting and laughing. And his parents.

Hermione is thinking about her parents as well, and how they wont ever recognize her again. She tosses and turns, wondering if there's a way to reverse the spell.

Fred and George are wide awake, thinking about their dad and brothers with silent tears running down their faces. They cling onto each other. And George can't get the memory of Fred nearly dying out of his head either so he finds himself burying his face in his brother's neck to comfort himself.

Around 2 AM, Tonks joins them on the floor, fresh from her shower and wearing a daisy yellow sweater. She lies her blanket down next to Mrs. Weasley and tries to sleep but can't. 

She's having the same problem as George but its worse. Because Lupin isn't there to squeeze for comfort. And that drives her to tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions, comments, or suggestions. I'll answer your questions the best I can and I'm open to any ideas or suggestions you want to incorporate into the story.


	3. Home Awaits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group goes back to the Burrow.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J. K. Rowling
> 
> I also sadly don't own The Beatles or their music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. This is the first chapter I've posted that wasn't already written. Anyway, this chapter has a lot of flashbacks to Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, so if you've never watched or read either of those, you may be confused.

'The moon shines brightly over the pond. Tonks sits on the bench beside the pond and brushes through her long bubblegum pink hair. She comes here to be alone. To not be judged. She still has some angry tears leaking out of her eyes. How dare they say that to her!

"Wow Nymphs, you really are a freak!" She can still hear the voice echo in her head.

Tonks just stormed out of the Gryffindor dormitory in tears because of what the kids were jeering at her. Its her first day at Hogwarts and it was absolutely enchanting until she changed her hair....then it went to hell. Some of her classmates had been impressed and told her it was cool.

Tonks had smiled shyly and changed her hair the way they had asked.

"Turn it brown and curly!"

"Do a blue mullet!"

"Can you do multi-colored, like orange with red streaks?"

They had been amazed. Tonks never really thought her abilities were that special. At her home, her parents never really acknowledged it. But now, all these people seemed to think it was astounding.

But of course, some students called her a freak. A 4th year Gryffindor and two of her friends had cornered Tonks later and harassed her. They called her a freak, shoved her around, and pulled her hair.

Tonks eventually broke into tears and stormed off. She walked around school grounds until she saw the beautiful pond. It was nice and silent and no one else was around to see her cry or harass her.She glares at the moonlit water and sniffles.

"Pull yourself together Tonks," she mutters with determination and her hair turns fiery red and shoulder length.

"You're better than this. They were just jerks," she mutters, closing her eyes and trying to calm down. Her hair then morphed into light brown and wavy as she relaxed.

She focuses on the silence and the quiet whistling of the wind. 

THUD!

Tonks whirls around to see a boy a little older than her splayed on his stomach in the dirt. He just tripped over a brush vine.

She gasps in shock and jumps to her feet. The boy scrambles to his feet and puts his hands in front of him defensively. His brown hair is rumpled and his clean white shirt covered in dirt. His Gryffindor tie is askew.

"Hi, uh....sorry about that-" he begins.

"Were you watching me!" Tonks hisses, her hair returning fiery red. 

"Uh, no....well sort of but-"

"That's creepy! Get a life!" She snarls, her foul mood from the harassment returning.

"Hey wait! I just wanted to say that thing you can do with your hair and face is really cool! And those girls were just jealous!" The boy blurts out hurriedly.

Tonks freezes and stares at him. "You saw that?" She meekly asks.

He blushes and nods. "Yeah, I was walking down the hall with my friend James and I saw them pulling your hair and harassing you. I'm sorry. I wanted to come make sure you were alright. Is this your first year?"

Tonks nods.

He smiles. "Brilliant. Look, if you need a friend, you can hang out with me. I'm in my 4th year so I know the ropes around here pretty well. My names Remus Lupin," he introduces, reaching his hand out for Tonks to shake.

Tonks doesn't hesitate and shakes his hand, her hair going long and bubblegum pink again. "My names Tonks."

"Tonks? Is that a nickname?"

"Sort of. Its my last name. I go by it since my first name is so atrocious."

"What's your first name?"

"You'll laugh!"

"I promise I won't."

"My names Nymphadora," she grumbles.

"Nymphadora....i think its delicate sounding and pretty," he compliments.

Tonks blushes and mutters a thank you.

"Come on Tonks, lets go back up to the dormitories. Don't want to be caught out of bed on your first night," he says. 

He grasps her hand and they walk back up to Hogwarts.'

****************************************************************************************

 

"Ah!" Tonks shrieks, heart pounding. She's not sure where she is or what's going on.

She looks around and sees she's in the Hogwarts basement. Its dim, only a few candles are lit. There are lots of people down there with her, they're curled up in blankets on the floor. Most are asleep but a few are awake and whispering amongst themselves.

Tonks sees she is also curled up in a blanket on the floor and that she's wearing an annoyingly bright yellow sweater.

Now the memories come flooding back. The battle. The death. The destruction. The sorrow. 

Tonks feels warm tears prick her eyes as she folds into herself.

"Christ Remus, this so shitty. Why..."

"Are you alright, Nymphadora?"

Tonks looks over her shoulder to see Mrs. Weasley looking up at her.

"Oh sorry. Did I wake you?" Tonks whispers.

"No, dear. I've been up for about an hour."

Tonks nods and peers over Molly's shoulder and sees that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and the twins are asleep. Although, Hermione and Harry are tossing and turning with a grimace on their faces. Neville is shaking in his sleep. Ginny, Ron, and Luna are all crying in their sleep. Fred and George both keep muttering and squirming around.

No ones in a peaceful slumber.

"Were you having a good dream, dear?"

"Huh?"

"Your hair turned pink and grew down to your waist, but the second you woke up it changed back to black and a pixie cut," Molly says as she sits up.

Tonks smiles sadly while running a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, it was nice. It was a memory."

"I understand. I've been dreaming about Arthur and the boys all night," Molly says wistfully.

"Yeah? Its hard to adjust," Tonks says but her voice cracks and she's crying now.

Mrs. Weasley sits up, signaling she's going to stay up and talk with her.

"Tell me what you dreamed about," Molly insists.

Tonks clears her throat to begin.

**********************************************************************************************************

Hermione wakes up and stares at the ceiling. She looks over to see everyone seems to be waking up. Mrs. Weasley and Tonks are both already awake and talking and laughing and crying a bit.

"And then Charlie showed me what he'd accidentally done to the neighbors cat, and we knew-" Mrs. Weasley is saying with a smile yet crying at the same time. 

Tonks is laughing and clearly enjoying the story

Hermione looks over to see that Neville is awake and staring at his feet. Ginny is awake too and silently crying into her blanket. 

"Neville, you were good at Herbology, correct?" Hermione asks.

"I was half decent," Neville admits humbly. 

"Is there any plant that can help restore memory?"

Neville scrunches his face as he thinks. "It depends. Is the memory you want to restore tampered with by magic or not?"

"Its tampered with."

"Then no."

Hermione sighs, trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I don't think there's a plant to restore your parents memory. Maybe there's a hex or potion though. Luna knows a lot of hexes and Fred and George have always been good with incantations and charms. Plus, Harry's pretty good at potions. Maybe we'll figure something out," Neville says.

Hermione smiles a little at his optimism. 

******************************************************************************************************

George wakes up to feel his brother's body pressed up against his own. That soothes him and relaxes him. All George dreamt about last night was death and destruction. He kept reliving the battle, Fred nearly dying, being lost in the woods, the anxiety, then seeing his father and brothers lying there.

George ducks his head into Fred's chest and squeezes his eyes shut. 

'You're awake now. Its over, c'mon calm down. Everyone's already stressed out enough,' he thinks, a few warm tears finding their way out of his eyes. 

He feels a hand move up his neck and gently dig itself deep into his hair. George sheepishly opens one watery eye and stares up at his brother. 

Fred just lets a few of his own tears fall on George's head and nose before moving in to rub his nose up against his twin's. 

"Morning Freddie," he manages to choke out. The tears in his throat feel like sticky ash and make it hard to swallow. 

Fred tries to talk, but a whimper wretches itself out of his mouth first.

Fred just presses their foreheads together and they stay like that awhile.

"Dreamt about the battle....all the dying and.....you. The forest.....seeing dad like that. Seeing Bill and Charlie and Percy like that," George says, voice trembling.

Fred simply wraps his arms around him and pulls him closer.

"I know. Me too. I.....I just don't know what to do now," Fred whispers.

"Me neither. I guess we just....live and try to get stuff back to normal," George whispers into Fred's shoulder.

Fred nods and kisses the top of his head. 

********************************************************************************************************

"You all awake?" Mrs. Weasley asks.

Everyone sits up, bleary eyed and quiet.

"Mum, what's going to happen today?" Ginny asks.

"Well, we're going home. We'll stay for breakfast if you like, claim our relatives, and hit the road," she says with a sigh.

"Mum, what about Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Neville! They don't have a bloody home or family anymore," Ron says.

Neville's Gran died of old age a few days before the battle and his parents obviously don't remember him and are still in St. Mungo's. Luna's mom died when she was young and her father was killed by Death Eaters at his home after Luna was kidnapped a few days prior to the battle. The Dursleys threw Harry out for good and Hermione's parents haven't the foggiest who she is.

Mrs. Weasley gazes at all of them and her mouth goes into a thin line.

"They're coming with us," she announces.

Everyone smiles genuinely for the first time in days. 

Molly turns to Tonks. "You are more than welcome to come live with us," she says.

Tonks nods, tears streaming down her face.

***********************************************************************************************

They elect not to stay for breakfast and hit the road as soon as possible. They all head up to the dining hall to find McGonagall.

Not many people left last night, and it appears not many people are leaving yet today either besides the new and sort of awkward Weasley family.

"Minerva, we're headed out," Molly says.

"Oh, so soon? Are you sure? We're not throwing any one out yet. Today we're serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and offering the showers and a place to sleep again," McGonagall kindly offers. 

"Sorry, but I think the sooner we leave, the better off we'll be. I'm here to claim my husband and sons."

"Yes, alright. Let me just mark that off. Where do you want me to send the bodies. We're offering to send them to a funeral home for you. That way, you can drop by and arrange the funerals," McGonagall explains softly.

"Er, well send them to the one nearest to our home," Mrs. Weasley says, feeling slightly overwhelmed but putting on her brave face for the children

 

"I'll send them to the one in downtown London. Harrison is its name. I'll leave all information with the director, just keep in mind that its a muggle-run funeral home besides one witch. Ask for her by name, Mrs. Rose Dedicalla," McGonagall instructs.

Molly nods, reaching over and giving her daughter a hug, as she's bawling again.

"And you Nymphadora?" McGonagall gently inquires.

"I'm going with them, so could you please send Remus to the same funeral home?" She quietly asks and folds her hands at her side.

McGonagall nods and looks at them all again. "I'm very sorry for the losses you all suffered."

She then grabs Harry's hands and says, "I'm very proud of you Mr. Potter. You showed exemplary bravery and selflessness. I'm honored to have taught you."

Harry blushes and is about to talk when McGonagall moves over to Tonks and Mrs. Weasley. "If either of you two need any help, let me know."

She then faces all the children, including Harry. "You were all smart children with potential, and you still are. Hogwarts will be rebuilt in a year, just in time for the new school year. If any of you wish to finish school here, even you two," she directs to Fred and George. "you are more than welcome. But you don't have to. I understand. Until its rebuilt, we'll be teaching smaller classes in about a month. If any of you are interested in teaching, let me know."

Everyone nods. McGonagall hugs everyone again and is about to say something else when Professor Trelawney comes running towards them and flapping her arms.

"Minerva! Someone accidentally blew up one of the ovens! I need your help!"

McGonagall sighs and shakes her head. "I'm coming Sybil."

Once she's a few feet away she turns around. "If you'd like, I have some Floo powder you could use to get home. The networks are up and working again," McGonagall offers.

"No thank you, Minerva. I think we'd rather apparate home together," Mrs. Weasley declines.

McGonagall nods and strides off into the kitchens to put the fire out. 

*********************************************************************************************************

Mrs. Weasley decides to go back into the Great Hall one last time to look at her deceased family members. She kneels over each individually and gives them a kiss on the cheek. She then closes her eyes for a moment and lets warm tears slide down her face. Ginny, Ron, and the twins look at their brothers and father in dismay. Ginny curls into Harry's arms and begins to weep.

Ron doesn't say anything, he just lets Hermione hug him.

The twins intertwine hands and stare in silence, tears wetting their cheeks.

Tonks goes over to see Lupin. She sits down and kisses his temple.

"I love you. I'm always going to love you and wonder what we could've been," she whispers broke my. She then lies beside him and curls under his arm. His warmth is all gone after being dead for 48 hours. She shuts her eyes and tries to imagine he's still warm and running his hand through her hair.

"Tonks...." She looks up to see Harry standing there.

He sits beside her and gently touches her arm.

"We're going to go soon."

She nods and sits up, taking ahold of Harry's hand. 

"Are you ready to go?" He asks. "Because if you need more time-"

"I'm ready."

***************************************************************************

The group is gathering together and about to apparate when Harry suddenly shouts, "Wait, Mrs. Weasley, is it alright if I say goodbye to Hagrid?"

Mrs. Weasley nods. "Alright, dear."

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, and the twins go searching for Hagrid to say goodbye while Molly and Tonks wait for them in the main entrance by the clinic.

"Where do you think he is?" Neville asks as they jog past a few pieces of block. Most of the rubble had already been cleaned up, but a few pieces of stone and marble remained along with lots and lots of dust. 

"I'm not sure. Probably doing maintenance work around here somewhere," Harry says.

"He might also be in the forest," Luna suggests.

They check around the school grounds and look high and low.

"Hagrid! Hagrid!" They call out as the start walking towards the Forbidden Forest. Fred and George get rather stiff and fidgety as they near, the battle still fresh in their minds.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!" They hear. They all spin around to see Fang standing a few yards away from them with his tail wagging.

"Hey Fang," Harry greets. The dog comes bounding over and sits by Luna's feet. She smiles and starts to pet the dog.

"Fang! What did I tell you 'bout runnin' off on me whenever you saw a shadow or a bird and-well! If it isn't a group o' troublemakers," Hagrid greets warmly. He walks over to them and gives them each a bone-crushing hug. 

"Hey Hagrid. We just wanted to say goodbye before leaving," Hermione says.

"You're off? Ah well, thanks for seein' afore leavin'. I'm goin' to miss you all. Harry, I'm mighty proud of you. You're a good young man," Hagrid says, placing his hands on Harry's shoulders and smiling warmly at him. He then goes around the group.

"Hermione, you're a bright young witch. And bein' pureblood ain't shit. Don't let anyone tell you different," Hagrid says firmly.

"Ron, you're loyal and resourceful at the right time. Don't worry, I know you'll do somethin' great," Hagrid says, sounding exuberant. 

"Luna, your spiritually wise far beyond your years. Your gentle and understandin'. Something good is goin' to happen to you, I just know it," he says with a smile

"Neville. Your brave an' capable o' alot more an' you think. You believe in others and have a strong heart. Try believin' in yourself more, because I know you're goin' to go far," Hagrid says with a nod.

"Ginny, you're sweet and stronger than you look. I know you're goin' to get somewhere," Hagrid says

He now turns to the twins and smiles. "You two were a pain in my ass since you started goin' to Hogwarts. But, you always put light into the darkest situations. I hope you reopen that joke shop of yours soon . I could use somethin' to smile about," Hagrid says with a fond smile. The twins grin.

Hagrid gives everyone a last hug.

"Goodbyes are terrible," Ginny says with a sad sigh as she sniffles into Hagrid's shoulder.

"This isn't really goodbye. When Hogwarts is rebuilt, I'll take you all on a tour. An' maybe I'll come visit you. Its not the end. Its actually the beginning," Hagrid says with a sad smile. "You're all goin' to be fine. You've all got potential," Hagrid finishes, rubbing tears out of his eyes.

Everyone says a final goodbye before walking back up to the remains of Hogwarts.

*********************************************************************************************************

On their way back, Harry stops on the bridge where he destroyed the Elder Wand.

"Is this where you did it?" Ron asks, peering over the edge.

"Yeah."

Everyone looks over the bridge for a moment in silence.

"I wonder if anybody jumped off this bridge," Harry mutters sadly.

"Harry!" Hermione scolds.

"No, really Hermione. People died. People who were loved. Did anyone just think to themselves, 'well, I just can't go on. I can't do it without them, its useless,' and then jumped?" Harry says.

"Harry-"

"No, he's actually got a point," Ron says.

"Ron!"

"He's right! I mean, if my entire family died and all my friends, I'd throw myself over," Ron admits quickly.

"Ron that's-"

"No Hermione, I agree too. Sometimes, it feels like there's nothing left and you feel hopeless. Imagine if there really was nothing left to you. Everyone you loved was gone. And then, you saw this bridge. What would you do?" Neville says sadly.

"Yes. Despair and grieve are two of the most painful emotions. Sometimes, they are overpowering and there's only one way out," Luna says.

Everyone stares back over the edge again.

"Do you think jumping over would hurt?" Ginny asks.

"At that point, you probably wouldn't care. But no. It would be very quick," Luna says.

"That would be terrible. To rather die-"

"Than live with your loss. It must be so painful...." The twins say.

*********************************************************************************************

"Are you all ready?" Mrs. Weasley asks the children once they get back.

They all nod and stand in a circle holding hands.

Everyone takes one last look around at the remains of Hogwarts, then they apparate.

"Where the hell are we?" Ron asks, looking around.

They're in a wheat field.

"Oh shit! I left the protection ring around the house," Mrs. Weasley curses.

"What?"

"Ronald, do you remember when we first moved back to the burrow after living with the Order for a year? You were in your 5th year."

"Yeah mum, I do."

"Alright, do you remember how Bellatrix Lestrange burnt it to the ground during Christmas break during your 6th year?"

"Yes..."

"And do you remember us rebuilding it while you were at school and living with the Order again while we were rebuilding it?'

"Yes."

"Do you remember how the Order transported Harry here on his birthday because Voldemort was after him?"

"Yes mum...."

"And how Hermione was living with us too? And most of the Order?"

"Yes mum...."

"Do you now know why I put up the protection ring?"

"Sort of..."

"Because Ronald, we were living there and so were other people, a dark lord was at large, people were dying, and the house had been burnt down once already!" Molly snaps.

Everyone stares in shock.

"I'm sorry. I put up the ring to protect everyone. But as you know, it didn't work. You were at the wedding..."

Death Eaters crashed Bill and Fleur's wedding. Fleur was killed in the attack. Mrs. Weasley never was too fond of her son's fiance, but she felt guilty when she was killed.

"I'm sorry mum," Ron apologizes, knowing everyone is stressed and upset.

Everyone stands in silence and recalls the events. Voldemort was hunting Harry down eight months ago. He was hunting him so strongly, that muggles were being killed. The Dursleys noticed and abandoned him on his birthday. Harry was only alone for an hour though. The Order, Hermione, Ron, the twins, and Hagrid came and picked him up. They planned to take Harry to the newly rebuilt Weasley burrow. 

They created a diversion with Polyjuice potion and fled. Unfortunately, there had been a traitor amongst them. The Death Eaters found them and the fighting was brutal. Almost everyone made it safely to the burrow, except Alastor Moody, who had been killed.

And George had had his left ear blown off.

Luna remembers the wedding. Her father and her had apparated home the second the attack started. Her father forbade her from going to Hogwarts that year because of the attacks.

It didn't matter though. Seven months later, the Death Eaters came and kidnapped her. She remembers Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dobby breaking out together. She remembers Harry telling her the Death Eaters killed her father.

Neville wasn't at Bill and Fleur's wedding, but he went to Hogwarts this year. He remembers Death Eaters coming on the Hogwarts Express, in search of Harry Potter. He remembers how horrible Hogwarts was run. He remembers getting the letter saying his Gran died, and how the prefects had mocked his tears.

Everyone thinks back. 

"How does the protection ring work?" Tonks suddenly asks, breaking everyone's train of thought.

"Pardon?"

"How does the ring work?"

"It doesn't let anybody within 10 miles enter through magical transport. So, you'd have to walk or use a muggle car to get in. I'm not certain how the Death Eaters got in on the wedding night. Most likely some sort of black transport portal. But we have to walk home now. I can't break the ring unless I'm in the burrow," Mrs. Weasley weakly explains.

"Ten miles?!" Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Tonks, and Harry say at the same time.

"I'm afraid so," Mrs. Weasley says.

"Well, we better get walking," Luna advises.

********************************************************************************************************

The walk is long and tiring. The only upside is when the early May breeze blows through and gently ruffles the wheat and everyone's hair. Its silent and everyone is lost in their own thoughts.

Everyone once in awhile, someone will say something trivial like, 'Sure is windy, huh?' Or 'Nice blue sky out today'.

Its silent besides their footsteps, the wind, and Luna's humming.

**********************************************************************************************************

"Mum?" 

"Yes Ginny?"

"Are we almost there?"

"No."

"Mum?"

"Yes Ginny?"

"Are you sure the burrows still there?"

Mrs. Weasley turns around and looks at her.

"Yes, why?"

"Well, after the Death Eater attack..."

"Ginny, you saw the house after the attack, besides a few broken windows it was fine. After the attack we stayed with the Order for a few days just to be safe, then we went back home. You were alright. Do you remember?"

"I know, but did the Death Eaters come back and destroy it during the battle the other night?" Ginny asks through tears. She knows her fears are immature and unlikely, but she's still scared.

"Ginny, I'm positive its still there. The Death Eaters were busy at Hogwarts the other night," Mrs. Weasley says gently, reaching out and cupping her daughter's face.

"Yeah, Gin," Ron says.

"You weren't there Ron! After the wedding you apparated away with Harry and Hermione and we were worried sick and couldn't find you!" Ginny suddenly yells angrily, reaching over and smacking Ron across the face.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley scolds.

"I'm sorry," she mutters, nervously scanning her brother's face. "I don't know what came over me..."

"S'okay Gin. We're all stressed," Ron mutters, sorely rubbing the side of his face.

"Yeah. We are. Lets all relax, take a deep breath in-" Luna instructs "aaaaaaand let it out. Don't you all feel at least a tiny bit better?"

"Yeah, thanks Luna," Harry says with a smile.

"Mrs. Weasley, how much longer do you think we'll be walking?" Hermione asks.

"I'm not certain but I'm guessing about two hours, sweetheart. We've only been walking 45 minutes."

"Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes Neville?"

"What happened at the wedding?"

Everyone stops walking and turns to stare at him.

Neville's cheeks light up and he ducks his head. "I'm sorry, I just....i wasn't there and I'm confused as to what you're all talking about."

Everyone bursts into laughter.

"So you've been confused for the last 45 minutes mate?" Ron asks with a laugh.

Neville shrugs, the blush spreading to his neck.

"Neville, dear, you know about the Order right? Your parents were in it?" Mrs. Weasley asks.

"Yes ma'am."

"And you know about how the Order transported Harry to the burrow on his birthday, yes?"

"Yes, Ginny told me when we got to Hogwarts this year."

"And you know about the wedding. I apologize, I thought I invited your Gran and you."

"You did ma'am. I'm sorry, my Gran was too sick so I stayed home to care for her."

"Oh no, don't apologize! How is she?"

Neville doesn't answer, he just swallows the lump in his throat.

Mrs. Weasley gets it and gives him a hug. "I'm sorry, dear."

"Its alright. She was old and lived a good long life," Neville says, tears streaking down his face.

"What questions did you have about the wedding, dear?"

"Well, I know it was Bill and Fleur's wedding and all and I know that Death Eaters attacked, but what happened?"

Now Mrs. Weasley swallows a lump in her throat. "Many were killed in the attack, including Fleur. We came back a few hours after the attack to see the damage. They had burnt down the wedding tent, but our house was still standing for some odd reason. They'd only broken a few windows. We lived with the Order for a few days just to be safe, then moved back home since there was nothing wrong." Mrs Weasley explains.

Everyone's silent again.

"We've been awfully quiet this entire walk," Neville says.

"Yes, we have," Tonks agrees. 

"When I was little, my dad used to sing songs when we went on walks," Luna says.

Hermione automatically shoots everyone a look that says 'Im not in the mood for singing, so if you start singing I swear to fucking god' but its too late.

The twins both smile and start to sing 'All You Need Is Love' by The Beatles at the top of their lungs.

"LOVE LOVE LOVE! LOVE LOVE LOVE! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO THAT CAN'T BE DONE! NOTHING YOU CAN SING THAT CANT BE SUNG! NOTHING YOU CAN SAY BUT YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE GAME! ITS EASY!" They sing together, smiling.

Neither one of them is sure why they're so joyful all of a sudden. Maybe its because of all the bottled up emotions or what George had said that morning about getting stuff bac to normal. 

But right now, the twins feel fantastic skipping through the feild singing at the top of their lungs.

Hermione groans, but Luna joins in at the chorus.

"ALLS YOU NEED IS LOVE! ALLS YOU NEED IS LOVE! ALLS YOU NEED IS LOVE, LOVE. LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED!" 

At this point, Harry can't fight the grin creeping onto his face and neither can Neville, so they join in too.

Around the next chorus, Ginny and Tonks start belting out the lyrics happily too.

Mrs. Weasley grins and gives in. Ginny elbows Ron in the ribs and he starts smiling too and starts singing the song.

"Thank god that's over," Hermione mutters once the songs over. But the twins just grin and start over.

"LOVE LOVE LOVE! LOVE LOVE LOVE! LOVE LOVE LOVE! THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO THAT CAN'T BE DONE!"

Everyone smiles and joins right back in as Hermione groans.

"C'mon 'Mione!" Ron yells with a grin.

"I'm not in the mood to-"

She's drowned out by, "THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN KNOW THAT ISNT KNOWN! NOTHING YOU CAN SEE THAT ISN'T SHOWN!"

Hermione sighs. On the last chorus everyone stops and stares at her expectantly.

Hermione's about to open her mouth to bitch at them 'do you honestly expect me to sing after all the shit and death that just happened' but Fred opens his mouth first and yells: "C'mon! George and I started it and did a duet! Solo!"

"Yeah Granger! Solo!" George yells.

"Solo! Solo! Solo!" Everyone, even Molly, chants.

Hermione rolls her eyes but sings out: "All you need is love! All you need I love! All you need is love, love! Love is all you need!"

Everyone cheers and the song starts again, thus time with Hermione singing. She keeps rolling her eyes, but she's really biting back a smile.

**********************************************************************************************************

After an hour, they arrive at the Burrow. Their walk was a total of an hour and 50 minutes.

"See, its still here Ginny," Fred says reassuringly.

Ginny nods.

They stand there and stare at the house for awhile. It holds so many memories for Molly, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. Harry and Hermione have a lot of memories here too. Tonks has a few. To Luna and Neville, being here is a new start.

"Here's to a new start," Luna whispers.

She grabs Neville's hand and smiles at him. He smiles back and nods.

Mrs. Weasley feels tears pooling in her eyes but she smiles at the same time as so many memories flood back just by looking at the house.

"I haven't seen the house since the wedding night," Ron says quietly.

On the wedding night, Ron, Harry, and Hermione apparated away and started their hunt for Horcruxes. They lived out in the woods and on the road for seven months. So to Ron, it feels like the journey home is finally over. Warm tears prick at his eyes.

The Burrow truly is Harry's home at this point so he smiles and gives Ginny's hand a warm squeeze as he looks lovingly at the house.

Hermione feels attached to the Burrow at this point since she spent a month living there. She smiles too.

Ginny and twins have a few stray tears on their faces, but they grin. They're relieved to be home.

"Ron, you should know, nothing has been touched since the night of the battle," Ginny says.

"What?"

"She's saying that no ones been in the house since the night of the battle, before they left to go fight. So everything is still where it was left," Tonks explains, feeling a sadness grip her as she looks at the silent house.

"I just took down the protection ring so we can now apparate in and out freely," Mrs. Weasley says. "Are you ready to go inside?" 

Everyone breathes in, looks at the blue sky and nods.

Mrs. Weasley walks over and swings open the front door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's you think? I'd love to hear your feedback.


	4. Pompeii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna, Neville, and Tonks retrieve their possessions. Everyone adjusts to the Burrow and coops with their grief.  
> Witty analogies are made.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they belong to the brilliant mind of J. K. Rowling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Feedback is appreciated and thank you all for 103 hits so far!

Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley

Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger

Fred Weasley/George Weasley

Luna Lovegood/Neville Longbottom

Molly Weasley/Arthur Weasley

Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin

Harry Potter/Cho Chang

DISCLAIMER: None if these characters or locations belong to me. They all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling.

********************************************************************************************************

Molly Weasley swings open the door. A big gush of cool air rushes out then its silent.

Molly walks in first and stares around the house in amazement. Everything is just how it was three nights ago before the family left for the battle. 

Charlie's half-drunken mug of coffee is still on the kitchen counter. Arthur's book is set on the table with a bookmark inside of it. Bill's wedding photos are laid out on the coffee table. There's dirty dishes in the kitchen sink from dinner, and some leftover stew packaged in the fridge. The desk lamp is still on and so is the hallway light upstairs by the bedrooms.

"Its just how we left it," Mrs. Weasley says.

"I wasn't here mum, I was at Hogwarts, but I can tell," Ginny breathes, running her fingers delicately over Charlie's dragon books that are stacked in the corner.

Ron doesn't touch a thing, scared to mess anything up just yet. He takes it all in, gazing around at the house that looks frozen in time.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Luna quietly asks.

"Yes dear?"

"All of my possessions are still back at my fathers house. May I go get them?"

"Certainly dear."

"I um...." She shyly looks at everyone. "I don't really wish to go alone because.....I'm not sure where my father's corpse is and...." Tears run down her pale cheeks as she gazes at her pink converse shyly.

"Oh, Luna, don't worry. I'll go with you! I still have to get my things from Remus's and my old home," Tonks offers gently, putting a hand on Luna's shoulder.

"Most of my stuff was at Hogwarts, so it was destroyed during the battle," Neville mutters.

"Not to fret dear. You can wear Bill and Charlie's clothes," Mrs Weasley says with a sad grin.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley. I'll go with Tonks and Luna too. Can we stop by my Gran's house? I do have a few shirts over there," Neville says.

"Sure," Tonks says.

Harry and Hermione's belongings are already at the Burrow from their stay eight months ago.

"Is it alright if we go now or...." Tonks trails off, leaving open the suggestion that they go later.

"No its alright. You can go now," Mrs. Weasley dismisses as she takes one of Arthur's jumpers off the coat rack and observes it.

Tonks nods and grasps Luna and Neville by the hand.

"Where shall we go first?" She asks.

"Is it alright if we go to my home first? I'd really like to just get it over with," Luna says 

"Sure thing."

And with that, the three apparate away.

******************************************************************************************************

Luna apparates them directly into her bedroom. She doesn't feel strong enough to poke around her house yet, terrified of coming across her dead father. Luna walks briskly over to bed and reaches under, yanking out a big red suitcase and a duffel bag.

She then starts packing all of her clothes, knick knacks, and pictures.

"What's this cool little doo-hickey?" Tonks asks, picking up a shiny pink and purple sphere off of Luna's dresser.

"Oh, that's an aura cleanser! It takes negative energy out of your aura. When it glows and the colors swirl around, it means it cleansing you. My mom gave it to me for my third birthday," Luna explains as the sphere glows in Tonks's hands.

"That's a good thing to have during this time," Tonks says as she hands the aura cleanser to Luna 

"Well, it doesn't get rid of your sorrow. But yes, it is helpful right now," she replies as she packs the aura cleanser.

"Luna, what's this?" Neville asks, toying with a necklace that has a rabbit foot, a raven feather, a blue jay feather, and a cat claw on it.

"Oh, this is a necklace to keep away ghads."

"Ghads?" Tonks asks, not familiar with Luna's interests and hobbies.

"Yes. Ghads are tiny insects that look like the common fly. But really, they like to crawl under your fingernails and toenails to make you do strange things. For example, they like to make people drink a whole carton of spoiled milk just for the hell of it. Or make people speak jibberish at an important job interview. They're bothersome troublemakers," Luna explains as she packs away the necklace.

"You've got a lot of interesting stuff in here, Luna," Tonks says with an amused smile. 

"Thank you! But someday you should really see my dad's collection....its so much more extensive," Luna says sadly, watery eyes drifting to her feet.

"Hey, what's this?" Neville asks, holding up a jar full of red dust.

"Oh, that's just brick dust. If you sprinkle a line of it in a doorway, bad luck can't enter the room."

"And what about this?" Neville asks again, holding up a white pouch with a big sun sewn onto it.

Luna smiles. "That's just a handbag I sew for my mother when I was six. It was the last birthday present I ever got to make for her. I'm afraid it isn't very good, but my mother loved it. After she died, I took it back as something to remember her by."

"I think it looks lovely," Tonks says, turning the handbag over in her hands before handing it to Luna.

"Thank you."

"Oh, what's this thingy?" Tonks asks, holding up a bottle containing aqua blue bubbling liquid.

"That's some Recuriam. You're supposed to drink it under a half moon to have a weeks worth of good recurring dreams. I used to do it all the time. It really does work! My dad made it," Luna says with a sad smile.

"That sounds mighty handy right around now," Neville says sadly.

"Yes, but unfortunately tonight the moon is in a crescent ."

"Luna, one last question, what's this?" Tonks asks, holding out a big thing of feathers, gems, and bells strewn together. It looks beautifully disfigured and oddly perfect. Its bells made a soft chime.

"That's a mobile. It was mine when I was a baby. My parents made it for me and sometimes, I still hang it over my bed when I can't sleep," Luna admits, packing the mobile.

"That's really sweet that you've kept it all this time," Tonks says with a smile.

"Thanks. I keep a lot of things just because they mean something to me," Luna says, packing a weird looking vile of reddish brown dust.

Luna packs a few more knick knacks and clothing articles. She then gets an anxious look on her face as she walks over to her bedroom door. She nervously reaches out and grabs the doorknob. She twists the handle halfway, then lets go.

"No, I can't do it!" She cries out, tears flooding out of her light blue eyes.

Neville rushes over and envelopes her in a tight hug.

"Its alright, Luna. Shhh...." Neville consoles, stroking her hair. She buries her face in his shoulder and sobs.

"Hey, shhh....its ok. What's wrong?" Tonks asks worriedly.

"I can't go out there. I'm too frightened! I don't want to see my dad yet! Or how damaged my home is from the Death Eater attack," Luna sobs out.

"Its alright. Shh...what is it that you wanted? I can go get it for you," Neville says into her hair.

"My dad's bedroom is across the hallway. On his dresser is a big thick journal. Could you please get it for me? Its his life's work on supernatural creatures and such. Also, his collection of storybooks on his bookshelf. Thank you so much, you don't know how much I appreciate this Neville," She chokes out, hugging him back.

Neville strokes her hair one last time before handing her over to Tonks. Neville opens the bedroom door and steps out into the hallway. He closes the door behind him and looks around.

All the hallway windows were shattered and shards of glass are scattered along the wood floor and stairs. The blinds were torn down and lie on heaps on the ground. 

Neville walks down the hall and cautiously opens the door at the end of the hall. Inside the room is a bed, several bookshelves, a desk covered in papers and quills and ink, and dream catchers hanging everywhere. This was definitely Mr. Lovegood's bedroom. Neville looks on the bookshelves for the storybooks Luna wants.

"'The History of Atlantis' no....'Advanced Potions'nope.....'Why Vampires Should Form Unions' no.....ah here it is! 'Grimm Brothers Collection' and 'H.P. Lovelace Collection' That's it!" Neville says, grabbing both book collections off the shelf.

Neville now looks at Mr. Lovegood's desk, trying to find the journal Luna requested. The desk is littered with new drafts for The Quibbler. Neville sighs, shifting through the papers.

"Here we go!" He whispers excitedly when he sees the big black journal. He grabs it and is about to go back to Luna's bedroom when something catches his eye.

******************************************************************************************************

"I found it all!" Neville announces as he enters the bedroom. Luna looks up from her feet and smiles.

"Oh, thank you so much Neville! I truly appreciate this!" She says, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw, well....thanks!" He says with a blush, handing Luna the books and journal. Luna smiles and packs them away.

"And while I was in your father's room, I found this," Neville says, placing an envelope in her hands.

"What's that?" Tonks asks.

Luna carefully opens it and pulls out a necklace with a sparkly moon charm on it and a letter falls out.

Luna picks it up and reads it aloud:

'My Dearest Luna,

I saw this in Diagon Alley today and thought of you, since you are my little moon beam. This is your graduation present. I'm so very proud of you for graduating Hogwarts! You've grown up so fast. It feels like just yesterday you were small as a Himpalu Fairy and now you're a wonderful young lady. I hope you know that I will support you no matter which career path you take, but I invite you to work with me and co-author The Quibbler. You don't need to make a decision right now, take your time.

I'm proud of you, Luna. And I know your mother would be too. I hope you like the necklace. A moon for my little moon beam. Congratulations!

Love,

Dad'

Luna starts sobbing again and gives Neville a hug 

"I sorta saw it on his desk and your name was written on the envelope so.... I figured you should have it," Neville says, hugging her back.

"He bought me a graduation gift, and he never got the chance to give it to me in person!" She sobs.

"Its a pretty necklace," Tonks says gently. "Here, let me put it on you."

Neville carefully moves Luna's blond ponytail to the side so that Tonks can put the necklace on her.

"It looks gorgeous," Tonks says sincerely.

Luna looks in her bedroom mirror and smiles. The sparkly moon charm looks great with her pale completion, light hair, and blue eyes.

"Thank you. I just wish my father could see how much I love it."

"Do you feel his presence right now?" Neville gently asks, sliding an arm around her waist and gazing into the mirror with her. 

Luna closes her eyes for a few moments. 

"Oh yes! He's smiling at us, but he looks....sad too. There are tears in his eyes but he's smiling......... I know you're proud daddy..... I miss you too...... Oh, I love you too!" She sobs out, eyes still closed. Neville tightens his grip on her waist and rests his chin on her quaking shoulder. 

" I won't worry, I promise. I love you too," Luna chokes out.

She opens her eyes and stares at her feet.

"You can see spirits?!" Tonks asks.

"Yes, I can. But only sometimes. I have to really open my mind and the spirits have to WANT me to see them. They often want me to communicate for them. I hear spirits a lot more than I see them," Luna explains.

"Wow, that's amazing! I've never met a seer before. Can you see auras too?" Tonks asks.

Luna nods.

"I'm sorry for badgering you with questions. Did you just see your father?"

"Yes, I did. And you're not badgering, Tonks. Most people are curious when they learn something new."

"He loves you, Luna. I bet he'll come see you again," Neville says gently.

"He promised me he would. Thank you both so much for coming here with me," Luna says, giving them both a hug and Neville a soft kiss on the mouth.

She tastes like salty tears, but Neville doesn't mind.

****************************************************************************************************

Their next destination is Tonks and Lupin's apartment. They apparate into the living room. It's left just like the Burrow is, frozen in time from the night of the battle.

Lupin's files are laid out on the desk in the corner. Tonks's annoying pinchy six inch black heels are in the middle of the room, where she hurriedly discarded them that night after arriving home from work.

Tonks slowly walks into the kitchen. The window is still open, as she remembers bitching about the apartment being too stuffy that night. Tonks opens the fridge to see half of the Jello salad Lupin made for her that night. Just one of the many thoughtful things he always did for her.

"This is....." Tonks can't find the right words.

Luna puts a gentle hand on her wrist. "Its ok. Take your time."

Tonks nods appreciatively.

The apartment is small, it only has four rooms. But Tonks slowly walks through each room, observing everything. She feels like she's in a dream.

"Tonks, who's this?" Neville asks, holding up a black and white photo. The young man in the photo keeps smirking and nodding his head.

"Oh, that's Mad Eye Moody when he first became an Auror," Tonks says sadly. She misses her mentor terribly. 

"Huh. I couldn't tell. In this photo he's young and got both of his eyes," Neville muses, handing the photo to Tonks.

Tonks smiles and Luna giggles.

"Yeah, he was actually sort of handsome before the missing eye and the scars," Tonks says, admiration clear in her voice. 

Tonks goes into the bedroom to retrieve two suitcases.

She starts packing all of her clothes and some photos. After all of her belongings are packed, she packs some of Lupin's things. Like a few of his ties, one of his work shirts, his bathrobe, and one of his jumpers. She feels tears slide off her face. It feels odd holding his jumper, and knowing he'll never get to wear it again. 

She holds his bathrobe to her face and closes her eyes. It still smells like him. She ends up packing three more of his shirts, a pair if his loafers, two more of his jumpers, and one of his coats. 

"Tonks, you may want to pack this," Luna advises, handing Tonks Lupin's wedding ring. Luna had found it on Lupin's dresser.

"Thank you," Tonks breathes, clutching the ring in her hand. 

Luna snaps her fingers and digs around in her duffel bag. "I have just the thing.....its here somewhere......aha!" She pulls a silver chain out of her bag.

Luna gently pries the ring from Tonks's hand and slides it onto the chain.

"Now you have a meaningful necklace too," Luna says softly.

Tonks smiles, tears running down her cheeks. She fingers the ring for a moment before putting the necklace on.

"Thank you," she breathes, her hair turning navy with splotches of light blue throughout it.

"You're welcome," Luna says as Tonks gives her a big hug.

"Did Lupin not wear his wedding ring often?" Neville asks.

"No, he didn't. He was always afraid of getting it destroyed or losing it when he transformed," Tonks explains, wiping tears off her face.

Tonks looks through the apartment again, making sure she packed everything she needed.

"I guess I'm going to sell this place," she mutters to herself. 

Tonks can't imagine being able to live here again without Remus. It would always feel empty and like there was a ghost beside her where he should be. Beside her on the sofa watching the telly. Across from her at the kitchen table eating meals. Next to her in bed at night with an arm around her waist. It hurts her just thinking about it.

"Are you both ready to go?" She croaks out.

Luna and Neville nod. They all grab hands and apparate to Neville's late Gran's home.

********************************************************************************************

They apparate outside the tiny single floor house.

Neville swallows a lump in his throat and tries to open the door.

"Crap, its locked," Neville says.

Tonks whips out her wand and says an unlocking spell. She tries, but the door still doesn't budge.

"Unlocking spells won't work. My Gran was extremely paranoid and has all these curses on the doors so that spells don't work. I had a key, but I lost it...." Neville guiltily explains, hanging his head. 

"Your Gran must've been awfully good at curses," Tonks mumbles, trying several other spells.

"Could we apparate inside?" Luna suggests.

"No, she has several protection rings set up."

"Floo powder?"

"No."

"Do you have a chimney?" Luna asks. "We could slide in through that."

"No, Gran has a curse on it that makes the chimney blow anything right out of it."

"Christ, how did she tell you Santa Claus got in your home?"

"She always said that Santa knocked on the door and she let him in."

"How about open windows?" 

"I doubt it."

Tonks sighs and picks up a stone. "I'm sorry Neville, but I'm going to have to break a window so we can enter."

"Wait! Don't do that! She has a curse on the windows, so the stone will just rebound and hit you!" Neville shouts, diving out and grabbing Tonks's arm.

"Lord! Now what?" Tonks says in amazement.

"Neville, your Gran had a cat?" Luna asks, pointing at the plastic flap that appears to be a catdoor in the side of the house.

"Oh no, we had a bunny when I was little named Gianna. That door was her way in and out of the house. She got hit by a flying broom when I was nine."

"I'm sorry, Nevile. That's dreadful! But we could use Gianna's door to get inside," Luna says.

"How? Its big enough for a rabbit," Tonks says with a raised eyebrow.

"Engorgio!" Luna says, pointing her wand at the bunny door.

The door gets a bit bigger, big enough for a raccoon. 

"Engorgio!" Luna tries again, but the door stays the same.

"I guess this is as big as it's getting. We'll fit, but it's going to be tight," Luna warns.

"Are you sure?" Tonks asks, getting on her knees and sizing it up.

"I'm certain. Here, I'll go first," Luna says. She lies flat on her stomach in front of the bunny door. She then wiggles side to side until she's completely inside. She sits up onto her knees and smiles triumphantly.

"See, I did it! You're turn!"

Neville goes next. "Oh my god Gran. Why couldn't you have been less protective?" He mutters as he squeezes through.

"You're turn Tonks."

Tonks gets stuck halfway through.

"Shit!" She curses.

"What's wrong?"

"My ass is stuck!"

Neville grabs ahold of her arms and tries pulling her in.

"Its no use. I need to be pushed, not pulled," Tonks says.

"I'm on it," Luna says, hopping to her feet. She runs to the front door, unlocks it from the inside, and rushes out to help Tonks.

They manage to get Tonks inside, then Luna crawls inside through the bunny door again.

"Wait, Luna, did you go outside through the front door to help me in?" Tonks asks warily.

"Yes, I unlocked the door from the inside and-oh!" Luna smacks herself on the forehead. 

Neville and Tonks laugh.

"I'm sorry! I should've known," Luna says, shoulders sagging.

"Its alright. I make those mistakes all the time," Neville says as he puts a hand on her shoulder 

"Yeah, its no big deal," Tonks assures her. 

The trio makes their way into Neville's bedroom.

"I feel....bad being here," Neville admits, starting to pack his clothes he left at home.

"Like, guilty because your Gran is dead or like, sad and upset?" Luna asks.

"A bit of both really. I never got to see her burial because i was at Hogwarts and the prefects wouldn't let me go home."

"That's awful! Well, do you know where the buried her?" Tonks asks.

"Yeah, the Centenary Funeral Service sent me the letter informing me she died. So I assume she's buried there."

"We can go take a look if you like," Luna offers.

"Not today....there's so much going on already that I just....don't want to go there yet."

"That's ok, we get it," Luna says as Neville finishes packing.

He still doesn't have much: Four shirts, three pairs of pants, three pairs of socks, another pair of shoes, and a pair of gloves.

"Alright, I want to get something before we go," Neville says. He goes into the hallway and takes two photographs. One is of his parents and the other is off his Gran and him when he was in his 2nd year.

"You ready?" Luna asks. Neville nods and they apparate back to the Burrow.

*****************************************************************************************************

While Luna, Neville, and Tonks were away, not much happened at the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley started to make dinner since everyone was extremely hungry because they didn't eat breakfast then walked ten miles. However, Mrs. Weasley doesn't move Charlie's coffee mug from its spot on the counter.

Ginny, Ron, Harry, the twins, and Hermione continue looking around the Burrow. 

"It really does look frozen in time," Ginny says sadly.

"Yeah, especially since everything is just how it was left, casually strewn about," George agrees.

"Like Pompeii," Hermione says as the group walks around the living room.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but what does fruit have to do with this?" Ron asks.

"Not pomegranate Ronald, Pompeii. Pompeii is a Roman city. Its population was around 11,000 citizens," Hermione explains with a sigh.

"WAS 11,000?" Harry asks.

"Yes, WAS. They all perished in a volcanic eruption. The city was covered five miles deep in the ash from the eruption. Centuries later, archeologists uncovered Pompeii. The city looked frozen in time. There was bread in ovens, people sitting at tables, and normal everyday activities everywhere."

"That's a lot like this," Ginny whispers, looking around the room.

"Yeah, just not as extreme and without the ash," Fred says.

"That's a good analogy 'Mione," Ron says.

"Yeah, it is" Harry agrees.

"I quite agree," Luna suddenly says from behind them, making everyone jump. 

"Hi guys," Neville greets.

"Hey. Do you guys have your stuff?" Ron asks.

"Yes, where do you want us to put it?" Tonks asks.

"Oh, you're all back!" Mrs. Weasley says, popping her head out of the kitchen.

"Hello Molly. I was just wondering where we should put our belongings," Tonks says.

"Well, I suppose we should figure out rooming situations now, shouldn't we?" Mrs. Weasley says.

The Burrow has four floors. The first floor has the kitchen, living room, and a bathroom. The second floor has Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom and Ginny's bedroom. 

The third floor has Ron's bedroom and Bill and Charlie's shared bedroom. (but since both moved out it became a guest bedroom.)

The top floor has the twins bedroom, Percy's bedroom, and another bathroom.

So even though the Burrow has four floors, its still a small house.

"Well, there are ten of us and six bedrooms."

"Harry can room in my room with me again," Ron offers.

"Alright. Ron and Harry in Ron's bedroom. Ginny and Hermione in Ginny's bedroom. Fred and George can have their old bedroom back," Mrs Weasley says.

She looks at the remaining people: Tonks, Luna, Neville, and herself.

"Tonks, you can have Percy's old room. And Neville er...."

Mrs. Weasley isn't entirely comfortable with letting Luna and Neville share a room. Neville picks up on this and blushes.

"Mrs. Weasley, I promise nothing will happen between Luna and I. You can trust us!" He says quickly.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. We won't do anything," Luna promises. 

Mrs. Weasley sighs with a nod. "Alright, you two can share Bill and Charlie's old bedroom. But if I hear of anything, I'll regroup you."

"I dunno, I think its Fred and George she needs to worry about," Ron whispers. 

The teakettle in the kitchen starts screeching.

"The teas ready. Alright, I'm going to go finish making dinner. It should be ready in 20 minutes. Go ahead and unpack," Mrs. Weasley says as she bustles back into the kitchen.

**********************************************************************************************************

"Its odd....being back," Ginny says quietly as her and Hermione enter her bedroom. All of Hermione's things are still their from her stay eight months ago. 

Ginny only has a twin bed, but its a trundle. So Ginny pulls out the second lower bed for Hermione.

"I'm sure it is," Hermione gently says, sitting down on the trundle.

Ginny blinks tears out of her eyes as she fishes some sheets and pillows out of the closet for Hermione.

"It feels like the house hasn't caught up yet, and there are memories everywhere. Some make you smile,some make you frown, some make you want to cry, some make you laugh out loud, and others make you feel warm and loved. But the memories all have a nostalgic burn, and they're flitting around everywhere like ash," Ginny explains, voice uneven and breathing rapid.

Hermione takes the sheets and pillow from her and makes her bed. "So my analogy was perfect. It is Pompeii around here. And we're the fortune and few survivors," she says.

Ginny sits on her bed and watches Hermione lay out the sheets and tuck them in precisely.

Ginny really wants Hermione to finish making her bed so that she can leave. All Ginny wants to do is curl up in bed and cry herself to sleep. As much as she likes Hermione, she just really wants to be alone.

Hermione can tell just by looking at Ginny. The second she finishes making her bed, she looks up at Ginny apologetically.

"I'm going down to the living room."

That's all she says, Hermione Know-it-all Granger has nothing else to say. She knows Ginny needs some privacy. And Hermione Know-it-all Granger doesn't know what to say. She's at a loss for words. So, she simply walls across the bedroom and softly closes the door behind her.

**********************************************************************************************************

"It really feels like the journeys over since we're back here," Ron says, padding across his bedroom and gazing fondly at all his Canons posters.

Harry smiles too.

Like Ginny, Ron has a twin that's a trundle. He pulls it out for Harry.

Like Hermione, Harry's stuff is already in Ron's room from his stay eight months ago.

"It feels good being back, but really hallow," Harry says, spreading sheets over his bed.

"Yeah. Its bloody depressing. I'm still shaken, mate. I'm not sure how much more shit I can deal with. How're you holding up?"

Harry sighs, flopping down on the trundle. "Not fantastic."

Ron nods and the two sit there in silence for a moment. 

"We should go downstairs and see how everyone else is doing," Ron suggests.

Harry nods and the two head downstairs to the living room.

********************************************************************************************************

Tonks walks into Percy's room with caution, as if she's afraid a trap door is going to open up underneath her feet.

It feels weird, moving into a dead man's bedroom. 

Tonks slowly opens his closet, and is shocked to see its empty. Then she remembers that Percy took off with the ministry four years ago and tried to break away from his family completely.

He came back on the night of the battle though, and he apologized to his family. He died in peace without unfinished business with his family.

Tonks starts to pack her things into Percy's closet. As she's doing so, she sees a little cardboard box in on the upper shelf of the closet. 'P. W.' is written on the side of it. Tonks has no idea what's in it, but she doesn't dare open it. She'll ask Molly sometime. Sometime when the dust has settled and the wounds aren't so raw.

She finishes unpacking and sits on the bed. She puts a photo of her and Remus on their wedding night on the dresser. 

She feels tears build up in her eyes. It doesn't matter that she's not in her apartment. She can feel the ghost next to her on the bed.

"I need to occupy myself," she mutters, hair turning black again. She stands up and stalks off downstairs. 

**********************************************************************************************************

The twins wander into their bedroom and smile nostalgically. 

"Feels strange being here again after everything that's happened in the last two days," Fred says.

"Yeah. Loads of shit went down. And now...."

"We're here again," Fred finishes for him, giving him a big hug. 

The twins each have a twin bed, but they're always pushed together so they can sleep together. 

They stumble over to the conjoined beds and lie down. 

"We should save up and buy a Queen that we can share," George mutters, intertwining their legs.

"That's a great idea Georgie," Fred says, resting his head on his brother's shoulder.

They're silent for a moment.

"Its draining....being here. There's so many memories and they're almost-"

"Suffocating. I know. Its hard to not cry honestly. Especially with-"

"When not all the memories are bad. Some are bad, some are good, some are fantastic, others confusing. Its awful that the happy memories are the ones that make you want to cry right now-"

"Because they're happy. And we all feel so empty because we're missing someone. All the good memories with dad, Bill, Charlie, and Percy make you want to cry," Fred finishes.

They get each other on an unbelievable level and know exactly what the other is thinking and feeling.

"Happy memories aren't supposed to make you cry," George mutters as he squeezes his eyes shut. 

"No, they're not. This is fucked up," Fred agrees, blinking tears out of his eyes.

"Maybe we should go downstairs and make sure everyone's ok," George suggests.

"Good idea. I think mum is going to lose it soon and Ginny and Harry both look depressed," Fred says.

The twins grasp hands and head to the living room.

*******************************************************************************************************

Neville and Luna enter Charlie and Bill's old room.

Charlie and Bill's stuff is still in the closet and Luna and Neville aren't sure what Mrs Weasley wants them to do with it, so they don't unpack yet. Bill and Charlie's things are there because they moved back in with their parents to help a week before the battle.

Luna hums as she hangs her mobile over one of the twin beds, claiming it as hers. 

Neville walks across the room to his twin bed and awkwardly huffs.

"You don't need to be embarrassed," Luna says, not taking her eyes off the mobile as she hangs it.

"What? I mean-I mean..."

Luna lays down on her bed and smiles over at Neville. "What did I tell you about seers yesterday? There's no use lying Neville. I'm not going to judge you."

"Okay..." Neville says, sighing and slumping over on his bed.

"You feel weird being here since this used to be someone else's room, but they died recently. It makes you feel guilty, and you're scared Mrs. Weasley is secretly upset with us staying in her deceased sons' bedroom. You're also feeling awkward," Luna says, squinting as she reads his aura.

"Yeah, you hit the nail on the head."

"Do you feel awkward because Mrs. Weasley is afraid of us having intercourse?"

"What?! Well....a little," Neville admits.

Luna smiles."Its alright. I don't like it when you feel awkward around me. I like it when you open up and freely express yourself. I'll admit it was a bit awkward, but we're fine."

"Alright. I'll get over it," Neville says with a nod. 

Luna smiles and walks across the room to join Neville on his bed.

"This is going to hurt. Adjusting our lives to adapt without the loved ones we lost. But we also gained some and drew closer bonds with others," Luna says quietly, toying with the moon charm on her necklace.

"I know. I'm just glad that I knew those people. They taught me things and changed my life forever," Neville says, lying his head in his hands.

"That's a good way to think about it Neville."

"Thanks."

Luna grabs his hand. "Lets go downstairs and see how everyone else is feeling, shall we?"

*********************************************************************************************

Everyone (besides Ginny and Mrs. Weasley) meets up in the living room. Ginny is still in her bedroom and Mrs. Weasley is preparing dinner in the kitchen. 

"You're analogy earlier was spot on Hermione," Harry admits.

"Yeah, its like the house hasn't caught up yet and is still back three nights," Ron says.

"Ginny said something really true upstairs," Hermione says.

"What?"

"She says that everywhere you look around here there's memories. And she says that some are happy, some sad, some nostalgic. But she said they're everywhere and they burn like ashes," Hermione explains, a haunted look in her eyes. "Its bad enough for me, and I only have a few memories here. So I can only imagine what it's like for you Weasley's." She says, giving Ron's hand a squeeze.

Everyone sits in silence for a moment.

"That's poetic almost," Tonks says.

"I agree. Where is Ginny?" Luna asks.

"Still in her room. She needs some alone time," Hermione says.

Another moment of silence.

"Fred and I were talking about similar things upstairs," George says.

"Yeah, about memories. We came to the conclusion that they're plaguing all of our minds right now, but the happy ones are the worst," Fred says.

"The happy ones are the worst and make you the most upset because it reopens the grief and mourning by reminding you how much you miss them," George says.

Everyone contemplates this and agrees its true.

Hermione thinks the happy memories with her parents are the most painful. Luna agrees, thinking that happy memories of her father upset her the most. Neville agrees as well, thinking of his Gran and Tonks agrees thinking of Lupin. Harry agrees strongly, thinking of Sirius and all of the others that died. Ron nods in agreement as well.

"The memories are almost suffocating," The twins say together.

"It really is Pompeii," Luna says. "Time seems frozen around here and there's memories like ash, floating around everywhere and burning and suffocating you."

Everyone's silent.

"Dinners ready," Mrs. Weasley says, poking her head in the room. She look exhausted.

"I'm sorry Molly, did you need help with dinner?" Tonks asks as they file into the kitchen.

"Oh no! Its quite alright! I just made some eggs and boiled potatoes," Molly says as everyone sits around the kitchen table.

Everyone's about to start eating when Mrs. Weasley asks where Ginny is. Hermione explains then goes to fetch her.

She knocks on the door.

Ginny pokes her head out, eyes red and tear tracks down her face.

"Oh, Hermione....here, you can come in."

"No, your mum just served dinner.You don't have to come if you're not hungry, but I really think your mum would like it if you came and joined us," Hermione says gently.

******************************************************************************************************

Dinner is an awkward affair. Everyone is feeling upset and grieving, so its nearly silent as everyone eats.

"It tastes really good, Molly" Tonks says with a forced grin.

"Thank you," Mrs. Weasley says, returning a forced smile.

"It might only taste great because we haven't eaten in a day and walked ten miles," Ron mutters too quietly for anyone to hear him.

"Er, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes Neville?"

"Luna and I can't unpack yet because.....well Charlie and Bill's things are still in the closet," Neville says guiltily.

"Oh, its alright dear. You look like a deer in the headlights. We'll clean it out together after dinner," Molly assures.

"Thank you," Luna and Neville say.

********************************************************************************************************

Half way through dinner, small talk starts up and everyone discusses the best class at Hogwarts.

"I think Herbology is the best," Neville says.

"Herbology is alright, but I'm more of a practical learner. I like Ancient Ruins," Hermione says, playing with bits of potatoes with her fork.

"Ancient Ruins? I almost fell asleep in that class," Ron says.

"No offense 'Mione, but I found that class extremely dry and boring," Harry says.

"Ditto," Fred and George say.

Hermione rolls her eyes.

"I liked Care of Magical Creatures and Divination a lot. And Astronomy was cool too," Luna says.

"Care of Magical creatures was fun. I liked Astronomy too, it was really interesting. But I didn't like Divination, I thought it was a load of shit," Hermione says.

"You just didn't like it because you couldn't do it," Ron says matter of factly.

Hermione huffs and doesn't respond.

"Transfiguration was my favorite," Ginny says with a shrug.

"I liked transfiguration too," Harry says.

"Transfiguration was really useful and cool," Neville says.

"I liked McGonagall," Luna says.

"Me too. She was my favorite professor," Ginny says.

"She was alright-"

"But she was coiled too tight." The twins say.

"I liked Defense Against the Dark Arts, before Umbridge," Harry specifies.

Everyone laughs.

"That bitch," the twins both mutter.

"It was a useful class," Hermione admits.

"I gotta say, Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite too" Ron says with a shrug.

"How about you Tonks?"

"DAtDA," She says with a smile. "You are asking an Auror in training after all."

"How about you mum?" The twins asks.

"Oh, its been such a long time....I suppose that either Herbology or Healing Incantations and Spells," Mrs. Weasley says.

"Did you two LIKE any classes?" Hermione asks the twins.

Everyone laughs.

"Mione, its not did they like any classes, its did they TOLERATE any classes," Ron says with a grin.

Everyone laughs again.

"Well, actually, we did!" Fred exclaims.

"Yeah, we did!" George choruses.

"Which classes? Meals and study hall don't count," Molly says with genuine curiosity.

"Our two favorites were Charms and Transfiguration. Then-"

"Potions is third. Its alright. Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms are the most useful for our line of work," they say with wicked smiles.

"You liked potions?! With Snape?!" Ron asks.

"Yeah, its still useful for us," George says.

"But our absolute favorite was Charms," Fred says.

"I must say I'm impressed," Molly says, staring at them.

"Me too," Hermione says.

They try to continue the conversation, the pointless chatting keeps the ashes away

************************************************************************************

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Everyone is still eating and talking about useful hexes.

"I wonder who that could be," Mrs. Weasley mutters, about to stand up.

"No, take a seat mum!"

"We've go it," the twins say, standing and walking into the living room to answer the door.

**************************************************************************************************

The two swing open the door to see a short heavyset lady with frizzy and curly brown hair that's pulled back into a messy ponytail. She looks like she's in her early 50's and she's dressed in all black besides a bright red hat.

"Hello boys. My name is Rose Dedicalla. Minerva McGonagall told me about you all. Is this the Burrow?"

The twins nod and step aside to let her in. They're feeling numb so they say as she walks by: "Yeah, you're in the right place. Welcome to Pompeii."


	5. It's Hard to Sleep After Funerals Are Planned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Funerals are planned and everyone finds it hard to sleep afterwards.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling.
> 
> I do however own Rose Dedicalla and Harrison Funeral Home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Sam.  
> Yesterday, August 24, two years ago he passed away. My friends and I will never forget him, the lessons he taught us, or the memories he gave us. We love and miss you, Sam. T_T
> 
> Also, school starts tomorrow (ugh!) and swim team starts next week, so the flow of chapters will slow down. But I will try REALLY hard to post at least one chapter a week. Enjoy guys. This ones for you Sam!

"Boys, who's at the door?" Molly shouts from the kitchen table.

Rose walks into the kitchen and looks around calmly at everyone sitting around the kitchen table.

"Hello everyone. I'm Rose Dedicalla from the Harrison Funeral Home. You're Molly Weasley?"

Molly stares for a minute before trying to stand and bumping into the table. Its clear she's stressed.

"Ah, yes. I'm Molly Weasley."

Rose shakes her hand.

"And I'm also looking for a Nymphadora Tonks Lupin," she says.

Tonks's stands up, but no more gracefully than Mrs. Weasley, as she bumps the table and trips over her feet.

"That'd be me," Tonks says, shaking Rose's hand.

 

Rose looks around at everyone else. "Minerva McGonagall contacted me and told me all about all of you," Rose says.

She goes around and warmly shakes everyone's hand.

"Hello Harry Potter. Hello Hermione Granger. Hello Ginny Weasley. Hello Ron Weasley. Hello Luna Lovegood. Hello Neville Longbottom," she says.

She then turns back to the doorway, where the twins are both standing.

"Hello Fred and George Weasley," she greets, shaking their hands too.

She looks back over at Mrs. Weasley and Tonks.

"I've come to discuss funeral preparations. I'm so sorry for interrupting dinner! I can come back another time if you'd like," Rose offers.

"Oh no! It's fine!" Mrs. Weasley says.

"Yes, its fine. We should get it out of the way now," Tonks agrees.

"Here, lets go in the living room to talk," Mrs. Weasley says, leading Rose and Tonks into the living room.

"Mum?" Ginny asks.

"You all just....stay in here or go outside for a little while," Molly says in a defeated tone, blowing strands off hair out of her eyes.

******************************************************************************************

Tonks and Mrs. Weasley seat themselves on the sofa and Rose sits across the coffee table from them in a big red chair. A chair Mr. and Mrs. Weasley used to sit in and read bedtime stories to their children.

"Can I get you some tea or coffee?" Mrs. Weasley asks.

"No thank you, please take a seat and try to relax Mrs. Weasley," Rose says kindly with a sad smile.

Mrs. Weasley loudly exhales and slumps into the couch cushions. 

"I'm terribly sorry for both of your losses," Rose starts, taking off her hat and setting it in her lap. "I truly am. The battle was horrific. And I..." Rose blinks tears out of her eyes and swallows.

"I can't imagine losing my husband, really I just can't. Or any of my children. I'm not sure how I'd go on," Rose admits, wiping tears out of her eyes.

Tonks sniffles and wipes at her eyes and Mrs Weasley buries her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, its unprofessional for me to cry. I always find myself sobbing when I interact with clients or prepare the bodies, I should have a different profession," Rose admits.

"No, I think you're sincerity and how you connect with us is fantastic" Tonks says, swallowing down tears.

Rose offers a smile before clearing her throat. "As you can imagine, the Harrison Funeral Home will be extraordinarily busy in the next month from the battle. I'll be busy in particular since I'm the only magical folk there. All of the funeral homes will be increasingly busy. But your loved ones were the first ones shipped to Harrison today and McGonagall sent a letter explaining what had happened and who they were. I decided to come here first so we can organize the funerals before the big rush of other bodies come in and I'm booked," Rose explains. 

"Well, thank you for your time Mrs. Dedicalla," Molly says.

"Oh, dears, just call me Rose. And I'm glad to help out the grieving families after the horrid war," Rose says.

Rose opens up her big black bag and pulls out two files.

"Alright, lets begin. Mrs. Molly Weasley, your husband and three sons were shipped into Harrison from Hogwarts at 3 PM today. Mrs. Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, your husband was sent in at the same time. To keep suspicions down, I am giving them all a fake cause of death. 

Mrs. Weasley, I said your husband and boys all died in a car accident. Mrs. Lupin, I am claiming your husband, Remus Lupin, died of an unexplained stroke." Rose says, reading off a paper.

"We are currently preparing the bodies back at Harrison and they'll be ready by tomorrow. You may come view them whenever you like. I can organize and host the funerals, but I need to know where you want your loved ones buried."

Tonks thinks about it a moment. "Godric's Hallow. Remus deserves to rest among his friends and parents. Can you do a service there?"

Rose nods. "Certainly. That'd be easier actually, since its in the wizarding world and in a wizard cemetery. How about you Mrs. Weasley?"

"I want Arthur and my boys buried on our property near our house. But not too close, a fair bit of distance," Molly says without hesitation.

Rose nods. "I can do a personal service here for you. Now, we just need to discuss the dates....the earliest I can do yours, Mrs. Lupin, is a week from now, next Monday. Mrs. Weasley, I can do yours next Wednesday," Rose says.

"That's fine," Tonks chokes out, hair turning deep blue with streaks of silver that look like tears.

Mrs. Weasley just nods, trying so very hard not to cry.

Rose reaches out and grabs both of their hands. 

"We're almost done, now we just need to discuss some plans."

*********************************************************************************************************

Harry, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Hermione, Ron, and the twins listen through the door so that they can hear what Rose, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley discuss.

They hear everything about the funerals and the plans.

Everyone stands by the door in a morbid silence.

"This hurts," Ron mutters. "Only knowing your family is dead for a day, then already being forced to accept it because they're going to be buried in the ground."

Hermione gives him a hug and Harry squeezes his shoulder.

Ginny looks sick. "I'm going to my room," she mutters, before sprinting up the steps.

No one has the chance to chase after her because the kitchen door swings open. Rose, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley walk in, all looking sad.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for all of your losses," Rose says, shaking everyone's hand again.

"Thank you for coming, Rose" Mrs. Weasley says, escorting her outside.

"Uh, excuse me Mrs. Dedicalla, but have you ever worked with the Centenary Funeral Service?" Neville shyly asks.

"Of course I have. Centenary is a wizarding service. I used to work for them," Rose says.

"Could you find someone's grave for me?"

Rose looks like someone just kicked a puppy in front of her. "Yes, honey. Just give me a name."

"Edna Longbottom," Neville says, tears running down his cheeks.

Rose nods, writing it down.

"Edna Longbottom. Noted. Well, I'll see you all next week," Rose says,waving, putting her hat on, and apparating away.

******************************************************************************************************

After Rose leaves, Mrs. Weasley knows she should sit everybody down and discuss the funerals. But she feels beaten down and doesn't have it in her at the moment. She'll do it tomorrow morning.

At the moment, she needs to clean out Bill and Charlie's things so that Luna and Neville can unpack.

"Are you two ready to unpack?" Mrs. Weasley asks them.

"Ready if you are Mrs. Weasley," Luna says.

The three walk upstairs into the bedroom. Mrs. Weasley swings open the two closets and closes her eyes. 

Bill and Charlie's musk fill the bedroom. 

Molly slowly walks into Bill's closet and starts taking his clothes out.

A big stack of photos is on the bottom of the closet. Molly picks them up and flips through them. Several are family pictures, which makes her smile. A few are of him and Fleur. That makes her sigh. A few of are the wedding night. That makes her heart ache. Bill was devastated after Fleur's death. 

Luna and Neville stand behind her and watch her look at the photos and take out the clothes.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Neville quietly whispers.

"Yes dear?" Molly says, not taking her eyes off the photos.

"Is that photo there from Charlie's dragon reserve?" Neville asks.

"Yes," Molly says with a smile, holding the picture out so Luna and Neville can look.

The photo is from about seven years ago. Right after Charlie got his job at the dragon reserve in Romania, he invited the family to come visit him at the reserve for the weekend. 

Ron was ten years old and so very excited to see Charlie and the dragons. Ginny was only nine, and nervous about the dragons. The twins were twelve and happy to leave Hogwarts for the weekend to see the reserve. Percy was fourteen, and not thrilled to leave school but happy to see his brother. Bill took the weekend away from work and visited too.

Molly remembers the trip well.

The reserve was gorgeous, the other trainers friendly and knowledgeable, the dragons exciting and fun, and the research impressive. Arthur and Molly were so proud of Charlie. Bill and Percy were impressed. Ginny was frightened. Ron was ecstatic. The twins enjoyed the reserve. 

The picture was taken in front of the reserve's entrance gate.

Arthur is smiling broadly and holding Ginny in his arms. Ginny is trembling and keeps ducking her head into her father's shoulder in fear. Molly is smiling proudly and has one hand on Ginny's back, rubbing it comfortingly, and the other hand on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie is grinning with pride and has both of his arms around Bill's shoulders. Bill is embracing his brother too and smiling, his one hand holding Ron's. Ten year old Ron is grinning ear to ear and squeezing Bill's hand as he excitedly bounces on the balls of his feet. The twins stand beside Ron, arms linked and smiling. They affectionately ruffle Ron's hair every now and then.

Molly smiles a final time before pocketing the photo. She clears her throat and finishes clearing out the closet. Molly quickly cleans out Charlie's closet, pocketing his Chinese Fire Ball claw necklace. 

"Alright, the closets are all cleaned out so you can both unpack," Molly says with a small melancholy smile, picking up all the clothes.

"Do you need help carrying all that Mrs. Weasley?" Neville asks.

"No dear. I'm alright. Just please open the door for me," Mrs. Weasley says. Luna opens the bedroom door for her and they watch her stumble out, holding armfuls of clothes.

***********************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile Tonks, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins sit in the family room.

"One of us should go check on Ginny. She's been in her bedroom for awhile," Hermione says 

"Agreed. But which one of us?" Harry asks.

"I only think one person should go. You don't want to overwhelm her," Fred advises.

"Yes, that's good advice," Tonks agrees.

"No offense, but I don't think you should be the one, Hermione," Harry says.

"Why not?!" Hermione exclaims with an indignant huff.

"Well no offense, but I just don't think you and Ginny.....click like that," Harry says, unsure how to explain it.

"I have an excellent bedside manner and I'm very sympathetic! I DO get how she's feeling! We all feel like this!" Hermione says, flailing her arms.

"I agree with Harry. No offense Hermione. You are very sweet and we all do feel the same....but I think someone else should be the one to do it," Tonks says.

"Why?"

"Ginny needs coddled and someone who feels EXACTLY like her," George explains.

"Yeah, she does. And you don't feel EXACTLY the same and I think you'll be too.....proper for Ginny's taste," Fred says.

"Well....fine," Hermione says in defeat, agreeing with them.

"I love Ginny, but I don't think I should be the one either. I think it should be a relative," Harry says.

"Yes, it should be a relative. A relative will fully get it because they lost the same father and brothers and feel EXACTLY alike about the losses," Tonks agrees.

Everyone looks at Fred, George, and Ron.

"It shouldn't be me-"

"It should be Ron," The twins say together.

"Why me? I'll probably fuck it up," Ron says worriedly.

"No, I think Fred and George are right. It should be you, mate" Harry says honestly.

"Yes Ron, it should be you" Hermione agrees.

"Why? I mean....Ginny is feeling really sensitive and I don't know what to say to her-"

"All the more reason you should be the one," Tonks says.

Ron blushes. "I dunno...why can't you two do it?" 

The twins grasp hands and blush. "Only one person should go in, so that Ginny isn't overwhelmed. And-"

"We don't feel comfortable without one another....at the present moment.....after all these tragic events," the twins admit extremely quietly.

Everyone nods in silent understanding.

"You should go Ron. You're the best choice," Hermione says, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, mate." Harry says with a small smile.

"You'll do fine Ron."

"Yeah, just go see her. It'll work out "

Everyone watches Ron shuffle slowly up the stairs.

*****************************************************************************************************

"Why me? I'm terrible with this sort of thing. This isn't a good time to screw up, Gin's really sensitive and everyone's hurt....why me? Why couldn't Fred and George do it? Two people isn't THAT overwhelming," Ron mutters to himself as he walks to Ginny and Hermione's room.

Ron cautiously knocks on the door twice then waits. He hears sniffling and floorboards creaking. 

The door squeaks as its slowly inched open. Ginny sticks her head out into the hallway and looks at her brother.

"Hey Ginny. Everyone's concerned and I just wanted to see how you're doing," Ron says.

Ginny sniffles. "Not so good. But who is?" She responds softly.

Ron nods and looks at her closely. Her eyes and cheeks are red and wet. 

"Do you um.....need some alone time?" 

Ginny opens the door wider and steps aside so that Ron can step in the room.

Ron awkwardly stumbles in and stands there. Ginny stands in front of him. They stare blankly at one another.

"Why'd you run off?" Ron asks.

"Same reasons you would've. I was upset, hearing mum and Tonks planning funerals for our loved ones already. I mean, I know its going to happen but why so soon?" Ginny explains, sinking into her bed.

"Well, it is hard and it hurts but you heard the conversation. Our family and Lupin were the first bodies shipped to the funeral home and Rose knows she's going to be busy because of the war. She just wanted to make sure she got us in and planned before the rush. I mean.... I was really upset too," Ron says, staring at the ceiling awkwardly.

Ginny sighs and buries her face in her pillow. She says something, but its muffled by the pillow.

"What?"

Ginny picks her head up. "I know why she came tonight to make the plans, but it sucks. I wish we didn't NEED to make the plans. I wish it hadn't happened."

"We all wished it hadn't happened. I mean, all the bodies in the great hall gave me anxiety. You know, knowing all of those bodies were people that someone was friends with or related too. It got you thinking about how people are taken away from you in a flash," Ron says.

"People are gone in a flash. But another thing that kills me..... I wish Harry stopped feeling guilty," Ginny mutters, curling up into herself.

"I know, he's blaming himself," Ron agrees, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You can tell....when you look at him its in his eyes and posture. He's fidgety and upset. But its not his fault," Ginny mutters.

Ron puts a hand on her shoulder. "Its not. But he feels responsible. He thinks its his fault all those people died."

Ginny sighs, tears clouding her vision.

"I also wish that we could all heal faster. This hurts so much...." Ginny mutters, starting to sob.

Ron wipes at his own eyes and hugs her. 

"I know Gin," Ron mutters. Ginny clings onto her brother and cries into his chest. Ron begins sobbing into her hair.

*********************************************************************************************************

"Mrs. Weasley is being very strong," Luna says as she unpacks her things.

"She is," Neville agrees.

"She's weeping on the inside," Luna says with a frown, staring sadly at her shoes.

"She is," Neville says sadly. "My Gran used to do that when I was little after....what happened to my parents. She'd be strong and brave all day to make me feel better. But at night, when she thought I was asleep.....she'd cry. I could hear her through the walls and it always broke my heart."

Luna sighs. "That's awful. But she was a good lady. She loved you very much and wanted to keep you happy so she tried to make everything seem alright."

Neville bows his head, his tears dripping down his nose and onto the floor. "I can't believe she's gone and I wasn't there for her. She died alone....and it's my fault. She might've been scared and I wasn't there to hold her hand and tell her it was all going to be ok. She did that for me for so many years, and I didn't do it once."

"Aw, Neville," Luna says, her heart aching for him . She walks over and pulls him into a hug.

Neville hugs her back, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I'm not the only one who lost somebody. The Weasleys lost so many, Tonks lost Lupin, you lost your dad, Harry lost so many people, and Hermione's parents are lost in a way since they don't know who she is," Neville chokes out.

Luna presses her head into his chest. "Shhh.....its alright Neville. We are all sad and moving through our grief in different ways."

Neville sniffles a little. "I feel selfish."

"Why on earth do you feel selfish? Neville, you're grieving. We're all grieving and in a tsunami of emotions. You aren't selfish at all and I'm sure your Gran isn't mad. She may have been happy you weren't there when she died. She might not have wanted you to watch. Have you ever thought of that?" Luna says.

"N-no I hadn't thought of it like that. I guess you're right. Gran w-was always a stubborn and strong women. But I still feel.....empty."

"I feel hallow as well. I understand. There's no closure yet for us. But I believe there will be. After you see your Gran's grave and my dad is buried, it'll feel more like there's a definite ending," Luna promises, giving him a squeeze around the middle.

Neville kisses her forehead. "You really think so?"

"Well, there really isn't an end. We have to just get through every day as it comes, but yes. Seeing them buried will do us a world of good," Luna says, nestling her head into Neville's neck and blinking tears out of her eyes.

*******************************************************************************************************

"Are you two all unpacked?" Tonks asks as Luna and Neville join them in the living room.

They both nod.

"Where's Ron?" Luna asks.

"He went upstairs to comfort Ginny," Hermione explains.

"Ah, good choice. He lost the same people, so he'll understand. And more than one person could overwhelm her. Also, Ron speaks his mind freely without much thought, so he'll share his feelings with her perfectly which will make Ginny realize she's not alone," Luna says with a bright smile.

"Exactly. Tell him that when he comes back," Harry says with a grin.

"How about Mrs. Weasley?" Neville asks.

"We haven't seen her since she went upstairs with you two to clean out the closets," George says.

"I'm right here," Molly says, walking slowly down the stairs. "I was just putting Bill and Charlie's things away. Where are Ginny and Ron?"

"Ginny's bedroom. Ginny was really upset when the funeral director came over and you were making funeral plans-"

"So Ron went up to check on her. They've been up there for 20 minutes." The twins explain.

"Oh. I hope they're alright. Luna, Neville, are you unpacked?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I er....suppose we need to discuss the funeral plans. When Ron and Ginny come down-"

"What when we come down?" Ron asks from the stairwell. He has an arm wrapped comfortingly around Ginny's shoulders.

"Oh, are you both alright?" Molly asks, giving them both a hug.

"I'm fine mum," Ginny whispers, pulling away from her mother and crossing her arms.

"Good. Have a seat. There's something we all need to discuss," Mrs. Weasley says, ushering them both onto the sofa.

Mrs. Weasley sits in the big chair facing them and clears her throat. "As you are all aware Rose Dedicalla, the witch director of Harrison Funeral Home, came by here this evening while we were eating dinner. She sat with Nymphadora and I and we made funeral plans. Lupin will be buried in Godric's Hallow next week and my husband and boys will be buried on the property next Wednesday.

I know it seems soon to be making funeral plans. Christ, the battle was only three nights ago and we just got here today. But with so many deceased, the funeral homes will be busy and Rose took the time to schedule us in first. 

Rose told us that the bodies are being prepared at the home and will be on display for us from tomorrow until the funerals. So we will go see them at some point when we all feel strong enough and up for it. She gave everyone a fake cause of death so no muggles would get suspicious. She claimed Lupin died of a stroke and the Weasley's died in a car crash. So if any muggle questions you for some bizarre reason, give them the fake cause of death.

Neville, Rose will find where your Gran is buried. And once she does, I promise we'll go see her grave. That is, when you're ready to, dear. And Luna, if Nymphadora or I hear anything from the Ministry about your father, we'll inform you and plan a burial that he deserves," Molly says, looking around at everyone.

Silence. Everyone stares at their feet.

"I know we're all beaten, grieving, and hurt. I'm exhausted, but if any of you need me, my door is unlocked. Goodnight," Mrs. Weasley says.

She gives Tonks, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Harry each a hug.

She then kisses Ginny on the forehead and hugs her tight. She kisses Ron atop his head and hugs him close. She ruffles each twin's hair then hugs them each separately before climbing the steps to go to bed.

"I guess I'm going to bed too. I'm in dire need of rest. She's right, we are all really upset. I suggest you all go to bed too," Tonks says. She gives everyone a quick hug before going upstairs.

********************************************************************************************************

Tonks shuts the lights off in her bedroom and stands in the darkness for a moment. 

She then gets undressed and puts on Lupin's bathrobe. She sniffs it deeply, inhaling his scent. She then collapses on the bed and reaches over to grab the photo she set on the dresser earlier of her and Lupin's wedding day. 

Tonks looks at the photo and smiles, tears running down her face. She hugs the photo to her chest.

"Christ, Remus! You wont believe the sorrow right now. You can FEEL it in the house. I planned your funeral today," Tonks whispers.

She then proceeds to tell Lupin everything about the day, including the funerals and grief. She holds the photo to her chest and whispers to Lupin, her eyes red and wet with tears.

*******************************************************************************************************

After Tonks disappears up the steps to go to bed, everyone else says their goodnights and goes to bed.

Ginny changes in the corner and flops onto her bed, covering her head with her pillow. Hermione sighs, turning off the light and getting in bed.

"Goodnight," she says.

"Goodnight," Ginny replies.

Hermione lies down and stares at her hands in dismay. Anxiety eats at her as thoughts of her parents plague her mind. She tosses and turns, but she doesn't make a sound so that she doesn't wake up Ginny.

Ginny silently cries into her pillow, biting down on her wrist so that she doesn't make noises out of fear of waking up Hermione.

*******************************************************************************************************

Ron and Harry settle into their beds and Ron switches off the light.

"Goodnight Harry," Ron says.

"Night Ron," Harry replies, not feeling tired at all.

They're both silent for a few minutes.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"Can you believe that at this exact time three nights ago, we were fighting for our lives in a war?" Harry asks.

"No, its so dodgy being here again. I can't believe its over."

"I'm still scared that my scar will start hurting again," Harry admits.

"Don't worry, mate. Its done."

"I know. I'm still just...nervous."

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think my dad would be mad at me?"

"No! Why?"

"I dunno. I can't believe he's gone. Or Bill, Charlie, or Percy. It feels like a really awful dream," Ron mutters sheepishly into his arm.

"Ron, your family isn't mad at you. Living and deceased."

"Alright..... I wonder how everyone else is doing."

"Shitty. We're all doing bad. Some of us are more open about it, like Ginny and Neville. But some of us are putting on a brave face."

"Like my mum."

"Your mum has the worlds best brave face."

They end up turning on the light and sitting up to talk for most of the night.

**********************************************************************************************************

"Luna? You awake?" Neville asks. He's wide awake and can't sleep.

"Yes. Are you ok?"

"No. Are you?"

"No."

Neville sits up in his bed and rubs his eyes. "Is it alright if I....."

Luna sits up in her bed and looks over at him curiously.

Neville swallows the lump in his throat and quickly stands up. He dashes across the room and gets into bed with Luna. The space is tight with both of them on the twin sized bed, but they don't mind.

"Is this ok?" Neville asks nervously.

Luna buries her head in Neville's chest and wraps her arms around his shoulders.

"Its fine. I can't sleep."

"Me neither," Neville says, wrapping his arms around her hips and pulling them closer together.

"I can't turn my mind off," Luna mutters. "My mind is racing. I keep thinking about my dad, the battle, and everyone else's sorrow."

"I know what you mean. I hate seeing Ginny get so upset and seeing Harry guilt-stricken. I hate watching Tonks cry and Mrs. Weasley act like its all alright. I hated seeing the twins break down when they saw the bodies. I can't stand it when Ron and Hermione space out because they're upset," Neville says.

"I know, it hurts. I really hate seeing everyone so broken."

They cuddle up close and close their eyes.

Neville finds himself lulling off.

"Your mobile works, Luna. I'm already falling asleep," Neville goofily whispers. "Could you make me one?"

Luna softly giggles, feeling sleepy herself. "I suppose I could, or you could sleep in my bed with me, under my mobile."

"I'd like that," Neville whispers with a daft grin. Luna smiles sleepily at him and kisses him gently on the lips.

"Goodnight Neville."

"Goodnight Luna."

********************************************************************************************************

 

The twins slide into the conjoined beds and wrap their legs together.

"Are you tired, Fred?"

"No, George. Are you?"

"No. I have to much to think about."

"Me too. We all have a lot to think about."

George reaches over and turns off the light then snuggles in close. He runs his fingers over Fred's cheek. 

"I'm here. I didn't die," Fred says softly, reading his brother's mind.

George thickly swallows. "I know. But dad isn't."

Fred feels tears prick his eyes. "Charlie and Bill aren't either. Percy is gone too."

They shift closer to one another.

"But I've got you," they mutter at the same time.

"I bet Ginny's crying," Fred whispers.

"Tonks too."

"Yeah, and mum is now that she's alone."

"Hermione's probably restlessly tossing and turning."

"Ron and Harry are awake too. Probably talking like we are."

"Neville and Luna too."

"Lord, we're all miserable."

They clasp hands and deeply sigh.

"The house feels dead. Its full of sorrow," Fred mutters.

"It is. Its too quiet. Its unsettling and makes you feel....alone," George agrees, tears spilling over his eyes.

Fred knows that his twin is dwelling on his near death experience the night of the battle.

Fred smiles sadly at his twin and cups George's face. He pulls him down to lay his head on his chest.

"Do you hear that Georgie?" He asks gently, tears running down his face.

George trembles as he listens intently. 

"Your heartbeat," George breathes, eyes closing and tears sliding down his cheeks. 

"Yeah. And you know what that means?" Fred asks in a breathless voice, squeezing George's hand.

 

"You're alive," George whispers.

"Yeah. And I'm not going anywhere," Fred promises, stroking his brother's hair.

George nods, reaching up and caressing Fred's cheek.

"But dad and Charlie and Percy and Bill...." Fred mutters, a sob threatening to break through his lips.

George sits up and flops back down by his twin's side and pulls him into a hug. 

"They're gone," George finishes for him. They lay there and hold onto each other as if for dear life. Neither is taking the chance of letting the other slip away.

*********************************************************************************************************

Mrs. Weasley softly closes her bedroom door behind her. She turns off the light and sits on the floor. She holds her head in her hands and sobs.

She's bottled it up all day for the sake if everyone else, but now she's alone and she can fall apart. She feels the tears burning her eyes. She cries so hard that her lungs burn for air and her face is soaked with salty tears.

She cries for her loving husband, her brave Bill, her adventurous Charlie, and her intelligent Percy.

After half an hour, she's out of tears and is just dry heaving on her bedroom floor.

She staggers to her feet and goes over to lie on the bed. Her head is pounding and aches like a bitch.

She looks over at the spot on the bed next to her where Arthur should be and makes a quiet distressed noise. She reaches over to her night stand and grabs the big stack of photos she got from Bill's closet earlier. She lies there and looks through them for a little, hoping it will ease her hurt.

But it makes it worse. She finds herself gradually getting more and more upset. She eventually gives up and puts the stack back on the dresser. Her hand brushes something on the dresser.

She grasps it and sees its an envelope. 'Weasley' is written neatly in cursive on the side.

"Oh lord, oh lord...." She whispers, shaking her head. She knows what's in the envelope.

When Percy arrived at Hogwarts three nights ago, he apologized to his family in person but he mentioned leaving a written apology at the Burrow.

Molly opens it with shaking hands.

By the time she finishes, she's sobbing again.

"We forgive you dear," she chokes out, putting the letter back in the envelope. She plans to read it aloud to her family sometime.

Molly curls into herself and eventually cries herself to sleep, emotionally drained.

**********************************************************************************************************

The Burrow is full of restless slumber tonight. Even when people fall asleep, they wake up extremely upset an hour later. No one is content and everyone's minds are spinning with thoughts of missed loved ones. Its hard to sleep after funerals are planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions or suggestions? Let me know. I'd really appreciate some feedback from you guys.


	6. Memory Boxes and Life-Changing Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mrs. Weasley makes the world's best pancakes and Ginny keeps meaningful things.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I'm sorry this took me 2 weeks to post. I'll try harder to post more frequently.

'Lupin's honey brown eyes crinkle as he smiles at his sleeping wife. She's on her side with her arms out in front of her, as if bracing herself for a fall. Her purple hair is strewn over her face and some is damp with drool and it flutters, being moved by her breathing. A few tiny snores vibrate from her throat and her legs are sprawled out over the mattress. 

To Lupin, she's the most beautiful woman in the world. 

She opens her eyes and moves her hair out if her face. 

"Morning," she yawns, brushing her fingers across his palm. He smiles and grabs her hand in his own.

"Morning."

"Did you sleep well?" She asks, rubbing crusty sleepers out of the corners of her eyes.

"Not really," Remus admits.

"Something bothering you," she asks, combing her hair between her fingers.

"Well....I just had a terrible dream. I'm glad to be awake," he admits,kissing her on the nose.

"What was the dream about?" Tonks asks, rolling on top of him and putting her hands gently on his cheeks. She traces his worn features lovingly with her fingertips.

"Well, for starters, you weren't in it," he says with a smile. 

Tonks laughs and leans down to kiss him.

"Well, any dream without me is a travesty," she jokes. "But honestly Remus, what's on your mind. You look like you hardly slept."

"Well, its the same one I usually have," he says with a soft sigh.

Tonks cards her fingers in his brown hair, admiring the few gray streaks of age.

"Remus, that's never going to happen. I wont ever-"

"I know. Its just awful every goddamn time I have it. You'd think at this point I'd just wave it off as a dream, but its terrifying."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Tonks asks.

"You looked so peaceful.....I didn't want to disturb you," Remus says.

"Remus, it was just a dream. I know what to do when you transform. We know the cycle perfectly and every full moon, I take you out to the woods two hours in advance. I make sure I leave at least 20 minutes before the moon rises. We're careful. I will NEVER give you the chance to devour me," Tonks promises gently.

Lupin thickly swallows. "The dream went the same way it always does. I wake up in the forest, alone, and see I'm naked and scarred up. Then, I slowly realize that my mouth tastes of blood. I then see that my hands, arms, and mouth are covered in blood. I look around for awhile in fear, searching for whatever or whomever I slaughtered last night. Then, I see you in the middle of a dirt path. I....I see you lying still in your side with you stomach ripped open and your innards splattered out on the ground. The right half of your beautiful face eaten off and your entire left leg is gone, only leaving a bloody stump. Dread fills me like cold ice and I know I did this t-to you. I mangled y-you and-"

"Remus! Its alright. Nothing like that is ever going to happen. I promise," Tonks says, giving him a chaste kiss.

Lupin nods. "You're right, I'm sorry. I need to stop this."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Just relax. When you lose your shit like that, it makes me panic. I don't like seeing you so disturbed like that. Its all ok," Tonks soothes.

Remus smiles. "We've got to get to work soon. C'mon, I'll make us some omelets."

"Remuuuus!! You've made dinner the last three nights. Let me do something for you, you make me feel guilty," Tonks playfully whines.

"No offense, dear, but your cooking and baking skills make mud pies look devine," Lupin jokes, standing up and grabbing Tonks by the wrist.

"Hey!" Tonks scolds with a smile as Lupin pulls her up to her feet. "Insult my cooking skills one more time and somebody is sleeping on the fucking couch tonight," she says with a smile.

Lupin gasps as he pulls her into the kitchen. "The couch?! Oh shit! I'm sorry, Tonks!" 

Tonks laughs and sits at the table to watch her husband start making omelets.

"I love you," she says fondly with a dreamy gaze.

Lupin pauses in his cooking for a minute to look back over his shoulder at her. "I love you too."'

************************************************************************************************

Tonks opens her eyes and wakes up. The sunlight peaks through the blinds in tiny yellow rays, streaking across the hardwood floor and the bed.

Its the first morning back at the Burrow.

Tonks stares at the rays of sunlight in misery. She knows she should get out of bed, but she doesn't feel like it. She feels like lying her in bed all day, allowing her grief to consume her completely. She wants to lie here and wallow in her misery.

"Forgive me Molly," she mutters, closing her eyes again to go back to sleep. She's happier in her dreams and memories because Remus is there.

***************************************************************************************************

CLANG!

Hermione bolts up in her bed, her eyes scanning the bedroom.

"Oh, sorry Hermione!" Ginny apologizes with a guilty look on her face. She's standing by her closet and a big metal box just fell on the floor, waking up Hermione.

"Its alright. What happened?" Hermione ask, her breathing slowing as she calms down.

"I was just getting dressed when I remembered my memory box in here. It was on the top shelf, so I went up on my tiptoes to reach it....and I sort of lost my grip on it...."

"Its alright. Memory box? What's in it?" Hermione curiously asks.

Ginny picks up the big metal box and sets it on Hermione's bed.

"From the age of eight up til this year, I put little keepsakes in here. You know, small sentimental things," Ginny explains, popping the lid of.

Hermione peers in and takes out a small figurine. Its a tiny elephant made out of marble.

"What's this from?"

"That's from my Bill. He gave it to me as a gift when I first started Hogwarts. I love elephants and I was terribly nervous to start school, so he got me a present," Ginny says, a sad smile forming on her lips as she holds the elephant in her palm. "Bill made it himself."

Ginny turns the elephant upside down to see the tiny carving on the bottom. 'To Ginny. Have a great school year! Love Bill'

"Actually, I think I'm going to keep this out," Ginny decides aloud. She walks over to set it on her dresser.

Hermione pulls a newspaper article out of the box. 'NEW DRAGON RESERVE OPEN IN ROMANIA' the headline reads.

"Is this from when Charlie first got his job?"

"Yeah, he started when the new reserve first opened," Ginny explains.

Hermione smiles . "So, why'd you get out your memory box this morning?"

"I want to put an article about the battle of Hogwarts in when it comes in the mail today. Its not a good part of my life, but its a big one and it deserves to go in it."

Hermione nods in understanding. "It is a big part of everyone's life."

Ginny flops down on the bed and pulls another thing out of the box, a tiny pink stuffed bunny with uneven floppy ears and a crooked smile sewn on its face.

"When I was four, Percy sew this for me and stuffed it all by himself. He gave it to me for my birthday. I remember he was so proud of himself for making it and when he saw how much I loved it...." Ginny trails off and sighs, holding the bunny up to her face.

"He was a douche sometimes and he made bad decisions, but he was my brother. He wasn't all bad and I loved him. I feel conflicted about him, you know?" Ginny says quietly.

"I get it. You love him but you are disappointed in what he did," Hermione says sympathetically.

Ginny nods, placing the bunny on her bed.  
"I named it Hunsy," Ginny says sadly.

"Hunsy?"

"Yeah, after Percy's first pet rat."

Ginny closes the memory box and sets it on her bed. 

"If you see the mail first, save the article about the battle for me, won't you?"

"Of course," Hermione says, getting up and making her bed as Ginny walks downstairs.  
************************************************  
Harry wakes up and groans. His head is killing him.

"You finally awake?" Ron asks from his bed, flipping through a comic book.

"Yeah. What time is it?" Harry asks, rubbing his eyes.

"7."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "Only 7? Then why'd you act like I've been asleep forever?"

Ron sighs. "Because I never went to sleep," he admits.

Harry and Ron stayed up until 3AM talking. Then Harry fell asleep. But Ron couldn't. His thoughts kept drifting back to his deceased family members, sending chills down his spine. So poor Ron was up all night, quivering and trying not to cry.

"All night?" Harry asks with concern.

"Yeah," Ron says with a sigh.

Harry sits up and stares at his best friend. 

"You look exhausted mate," Harry says, worry in his voice.

Ron has dark bags under his bloodshot eyes.

"I know. I am but....I still can't sleep for some reason...." Ron says with a yawn.

"You should try and sleep a little," Harry suggests, patting Ron on the back before getting up.

"Where're you going?" Ron asks, lying back and trying to relax.

"Downstairs to get some breakfast. Do you want anything?" Harry offers.

"Uh, no thanks."

"Alright. Honestly Ron, try and get some sleep," Harry says with a look of worry on his face before he goes downstairs.  
************************************************  
Molly has trouble getting herself out of bed. She's exhausted and just wants to curl up in a ball and sob.

But she knows she needs to be strong as steel today. 

So she forces herself up at 7 o'clock and goes downstairs to make everybody pancakes for breakfast. She still makes sure not to disturb Charlie's coffee mug on the counter as she prepares breakfast. 

"Mrs. Weasley?"   
She sees Harry standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Harry dear! Are you hungry? I'm making some pancakes right now," she says.

Harry frowns a little. "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't have to-"

"Harry, trust me, I wanted to. I find that living on a schedule during grief helps get life back on track. You can't let yourself drown in the misery."

Harry can't argue with that, so he begins to set the kitchen table for everyone.

"Mrs. Weasley? I was wondering if you had any tea?"

"No, but I can make some. I didn't know you liked tea."

"Well, I don't but Ron is having trouble sleeping and warm tea always knocked me right out, so maybe this evening I could make him some," Harry says.

"Oh, I should've known. Ever since he was little, Ron has had trouble sleeping when he's distressed. And with the last few months...." Molly sighs.

"Well, I think everyone had trouble getting comfortable last night," Harry says quietly.

"No doubt," Mrs. Weasley says with a sigh, beginning to plate the pancakes. "How did you sleep Harry?"

"Ok I guess.... I kept having nightmares," Harry admits.

Molly gives him a hug. "Its going to get better. We all just need to pull together. Would you mind going to see if anyone else is awake and hungry?"

Harry nods and goes to see who else is awake.

He runs into Ginny on the staircase.

"Morning. How're you?"

"Depressed. How about you?"

"Same. Your mum just made some pancakes if you're hungry," Harry says.

A small smile tugs at Ginny's lips. "My mums pancakes are awesome. I'll help myself. Hermione's awake too. But Harry, you NEED to have some of my mums pancakes."

"Are they life-changing?" Harry jokes with a smile.

Ginny giggles and gives him a playful slap. "Yes you dipshit. They'll change everything."

Harry laughs. "Everything?"

"Yes, they'll open your eyes to the truth," Ginny says, laughing harder.

Harry is laughing so hard his eyes are watering. He takes off his glasses to wipe his eyes. "Alright, I must eat some of these life-altering pancakes."

Ginny smiles and gives him a kiss. "You should."

Harry sees Hermione next.

"Morning 'Mione."

"Good morning Harry," Hermione replies, giving him a hug.

"Mrs. Weasley made some pancakes if you're hungry. Ginny claims they're life-changing."

Hermione looks skeptical. "Life-changing? How is a pancake-"

"Just go eat them," Harry says, waving her off.

Hermione stalks off, muttering about pancakes and their theoretical life-changing powers.  
************************************************  
"Morning," Luna says.

Neville sleepily opens his eyes and looks around the sun-lit room.  
For a second, he expects to be in his old bedroom with his Gran knocking on his door, bitching for him to get out of bed. "Its almost noon, Neville! Get your arse out if bed!"  
Neville smiles at the memories then realizes where he is.

He frowns. His grandmother can never wake him up again.

"Gloomy thoughts when you first awake are the worst," Luna sympathizes, seeing his drastic change in facial expression. 

Neville nods. 

Luna snuggles closer to him. "Do you smell something?"

Neville deeply inhales and smells something sweet and delicious. "Yeah, and it smells really good."

Luna nods, sitting up. "Smells like home," she says with a tiny grin.

Neville smiles sadly. "Its going to take some adjusting," he admits.

"Certainly. But Mrs. Weasley is trying very hard and I think its working on me," Luna admits, standing up and stretching.

Neville laughs a little. "Me too."

They both head downstairs to see what the amazing smell is.

They run into Harry on their way down.

"Morning Harry," Neville greets.

"Hey guys. Mrs. Weasley just made some pancakes that Ginny claims are life-changing, so you may want to go get some while they're hot," Harry advises with a smile.

"Pancakes? So that's what that smell is!" Luna says gleefully.

"Sure smells life-changing," Neville says. 

Luna and Neville hurry downstairs to get some pancakes.  
************************************************Fred wakes up before his brother. He tentatively runs his fingers over the scar on the left side of George's head, where his left ear should be. The stitches have faded a few months ago, but it still looks off to Fred. Fred sighs, gently rubbing along the scar.

"Morning Fred."

"Morning George."

George gazes at his brother.  
"I don't feel like getting up."

"Me either. I could lie here all day," Fred agrees.

Both feel defeated and the grief is harshly panging in their chests. 

"We could you know. No one can make us get up," George says quietly, sliding an arm tighter around his twin's waist.

"Mum would probably get us eventually,' Fred says with a sigh.

"I don't even feel like I CAN get through today," George muses dryly.

"Yeah. Everything feels like a stupid uphill battle," Fred agrees.

There's a knock on their bedroom door.

"Is she waking us up already? its only 7:30," Fred complains.

"Ugh. I hope not."

"Are you two awake?" They hear Harry call.

"Yeah," they answer, surprised to hear Harry on the other side of the door.

The door swings open and Harry stands there.

"Your mum just made some pancakes that Ginny informed me are life-altering," Harry says.

The twins beam. 

"Mum made pancakes?" Fred excitedly asks.

"Yeah."

"Great!" George says with a smile.

"So your sister wasn't kidding?"

"No, mums pancakes are fucking fantastic!" Fred explains.

"Great. Well, she just made some," Harry says again before headed back downstairs.

The twins smile.

"I guess mums pancakes are worth getting up for," George says.

"Definitely," Fred agrees.  
************************************************Everyone gathers in the kitchen to get pancakes.

"You look exhausted Ron," Mrs. Weasley chides with worry.

Ron shrugs it off and grabs a plate of pancakes.

"You do look pretty bad Ron," Ginny agrees.

Hermione nods. "Do you feel alright?"

"Yeah. I just couldn't sleep."

Everyone nods in understanding.

"It was weird last night," Neville admits.

"Yeah, you kept thinking about everything that happened, right? Rerunning memories and events in your head?" George asks.

Neville nods. "Exactly. I kept reliving the battle and thinking about my childhood with my Gran."

"Yeah. I kept thinking about all the memories I had with my dad and brothers," Ginny says sadly, sniffling a little.

Harry grips her arm comfortingly and everyone's silent for a moment, bowing their heads in grief.

"Where's Tonks?" Luna asks.

Everyone looks up to see that Tonks is not sitting with them.

"When I knocked on her bedroom door she didn't answer. So I let her be," Harry says.

"That was the right thing to do. She probably just needs some time alone. Or she might've been sleeping still," Mrs. Weasley says, setting a pitcher of maple syrup on the table.

"I hope she's alright," Hermione mutters.

"If she's anything like us, she's not," Fred states simply.

"Well, dig in," Mrs. Weasley says, sitting down at the table and cutting into her pancakes.

Harry smiles as he pours some syrup over his stack. "I'm about to have my life permanently altered," he says with a silly smile.

"And your eyes will be opened to the truth," Ginny chirps.

Everyone laughs. Molly is confused.  
************************************************  
The pancakes really are fantastic. They're warm, light, fluffy, and sweet. They're the perfect specimen of breakfast food.

"They really are amazing," Harry admits, shoveling in another forkful.

Ginny laughs. "What did I tell you?"

"They taste even better than they smell," Neville says happily.

"I'm glad you all like them," Molly says with a genuine smile.

"Mum, your pancakes are always phenomenal," Ron says with a grin.

"Yeah," the twins agree.

"They are really good Mrs. Weasley," Luna says with a smile.

Hermione would compliment the pancakes, but her mouth is too full to talk.  
************************************************The good atmosphere from the pancakes quickly dies down. After breakfast, everyone relapses back into misery.  
Ginny locks herself in her bedroom for some alone time.

Ron holds his head in his hands and sits on the couch. His head his throbbing and his eyes burn from lack of sleep.  
Harry and Hermione sit beside him, trying to watch the telly, but their minds keep wandering to morbid thoughts.

Luna and Neville sit on the porch in rocking chairs and vent to each other. Neville lists every memory with his Gran he can think of, and Luna listens respectfully. Then Luna lists a few memories if her father, and Neville listens intently.

Molly cleans the dishes and then doesn't know what to do with herself. So she decides to go grocery shopping in the muggle supermarket.

"I'm going grocery shopping, does anybody care to join me?" She calls, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

No one responds.

"Alright then, I'll be back soon," she says before apparating away.

The twins walk around to the back of the house and sit in the overgrown grass.  
"It's still too quiet around here," George says.

"Yeah, the silence is strangely awkward and uncomfortable," Fred agrees, lying on his back and staring at the overcast sky.

"Looks like its going to rain," George says, lying back beside him.

"Yeah. Remember when we were really little and it rained and how Bill and Charlie would make us put on a raincoat and boots and take us for a walk?"

"Oh, yeah!" George says with a fond laugh. "Of course I remember that. It was so calm and quiet. Mum would have a cow when we tracked the mud back into the house."

Fred laughs softly. "Those were the days, Georgie. Those rainy day walks were nice. None of us talked, we just walked around and admired the rain.....Bill was a thoughtful guy."

"Yeah.....Charlie would get bored halfway through and pick up a handful of mud and toss it at Bill," George recalls with a goofy grin.

"Oh yeah! Haha! Bill would just smile and tackle him in the mud and they'd wrestle around," Fred says happily. 

Both twins smile.

"And we'd stand there and watch and cheer as they wrestled around," George says.

"Yeah, sometimes we'd bet on who'd win," Fred says.

"Then we'd have to go inside because the two of them would be covered in mud."

Fred snorts. "Oh man, mum was so pissed everytime we'd knock on the door and she'd look out to see Bill and Charlie covered from head to toe in mud! She'd start screaming and yelling at them to stay outside."

Now George laughs hysterically. "I remember! 'Bill! Charlie! Why the hell are you drenched in mud?! What the hell were you doing out here in the freezing rain in the first place?! You'll catch the flu! You're brothers were out there too?! Fred! George! Why the hell were you out there with these two hooligans?! You'll catch the flu! Bill! Charlie! You're the older brothers, you should set a better example! Fred! George! Come inside right now! No! Not you two! You're covered in mud and you sure as hell aren't tracking that all over my house! You have to stay out there until the rain stops!'" George scolds in his best mother impression.

Fred is laughing so hard he's in danger of pissing himself. "O-oh my god! Y-yeah I remember that! Mum w-was s-so pissed! She made them stand out there until the rain stopped then she'd go outside and squirt them down with the hose!"

George starts laughing too.

A few tiny rain droplets land on their faces.

"Looks like its starting to rain," Fred says quietly, wiping tears of laughter out of his blue eyes.

George rolls over to face him. "Yeah, it is."

A few more rain droplets fall and darker clouds roll in. 

Fred feels a few raindrops splatter on his face but he still lies still.  
George feels the rain too, but he remains lying next to his brother.

"I miss those walks," Fred mumbles.

George swallows a lump building up in his throat. "Me too."

"We should take our children on those sort of walks," Fred says.

George nods. "Yeah, we should. But you're sure planning ahead aren't you, Freddie?"

Fred smiles. "I guess. But I'm planning ahead because I know where our lives are going."

George smiles and leans forward and kisses him softly.

It starts to pour, so the twins run to the front door and into the house to avoid being soaked and getting the flu.  
************************************************  
Ginny watches the rain drops splatter against her windowpane. The weather matches her mood.

She sighs, but smiles a little when she looks out her window to see her two older goofy twin brothers lying in the grass as it rains, laughing and talking. 

"Goofballs," she mutters with a smile as it starts to rain harder and they start to kiss.  
They then sprint into the house, causing Ginny to giggle. 

She then sighs again and continues looking through her memory box. She's been shifting through its contents for an hour now. Her favorite thing that she's found in it has been the ugly maroon knit cap that her mum made for her when she was a baby. The cap is so tiny and ugly, that it's endearing. 

Ginny keeps the baby knit cap on her dresser along with a tiny toy Lamborghini figurine from her dad (he never figured out how to shop for girls) and a big quilt blanket with a different design in each square. A few years back, Mrs. Weasley made everyone in the family design four squares and sew them into the quilt (Fred and George had been pissed because they'd had to work separately) .  
The end result looked downright atrocious, but Ginny loves it still because its HER family's atrocious.

Ginny hears the door creak open.

"Sorry for barging in," Hermione starts.

"Hermione, this is your bedroom too now. You don't need to knock," Ginny replies.

Hermione nods. "I suppose you're right....anyway, the mail came," Hermione says, handing Ginny an article.

'The Bloody Battle of Hogwarts' the headline reads. A picture of Hogwarts in shambles is underneath the headline.   
'Minerva McGonagall to take charge' is a sub-headline underneath the picture.

'Among the Death and Sorrow, Hope Springs: The Dark Lord Dead!!!' is underneath the article about the battle. 

Ginny reads through the two articles before putting it in the box. Hermione hands her another article.  
'List of the Deceased' it reads.  
Ginny's mouth goes into a thin line as she digs around in her dresser for a marker. Ginny pulls out a yellow marker and highlights Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, and Percy Weasley.

"Thanks," Ginny says solemnly, putting the list in the box.

"I found two more things...." Hermione says, pressing two small pieces of paper into Ginny's hand. Ginny looks at them. 

One is an add for a movie coming out in a month. 'COMING SOON' is written in red across the top of the page.  
There's a big picture if an isolated island and a huge volcano. 'POMPEII' is written in smoky letters.

Ginny smiles. She unfolds the second piece of paper to see a stack of pancakes drawn on a napkin.

"Ron's actually quite good at drawing," Hermione admits with a smile.

Ginny beams, tears building up in her eyes.

"Thank you so much," she whispers, flinging herself into Hermione's arms.

Hermione smiles sadly. "You're welcome. I thought that life-changing pancakes and the island you're living on deserved to go in the box as well. They're both big parts of your life."

Ginny pulls back and wipes away her tears. She puts everything in the memory box. 

"Thank you. This means alot to me," Ginny says sincerely with teary eyes and a big smile.  
************************************************"Tonks? Are you ok?" Harry asks, knocking on her door.  
"Tonks?" Neville choruses.

Nymphadora opens her eyes. She looks around her room to see that all the rays of sunshine have vanished and been replaced by a drab gray atmosphere. She hears rain pattering on the roof.

"Tonks?"

Tonks looks over at the clock on the nightstand. Its almost 3 PM.

"Shit, I really slept," she mutters, sitting up.

"Tonks?" Neville and Harry call.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She calls, her voice groggy from sleep.  
She slowly stands up and walks over to her closet, debating whether or not it's worth getting dressed at this point or just staying in Lupin's bathrobe all day.

"Oh, ok. Just making sure," Harry says. She hears their retreating footsteps.

'Fuck, I didn't mean to worry them,' she thinks guiltily, deciding not to get dressed. 

She doesn't even bother making her bed, she just heads downstairs.  
************************************************"Hey Tonks," Luna greets her as she enters the living room.

Everyone is sitting around the living room in the dark, watching some documentary on whales and trying to relax. Everyone except for Mrs. Weasley.

"Where's Molly?" Tonks sleepily asks.

"She went out to go grocery shopping two hours ago," Ginny says, a hint of worry in her voice.

Tonks sighs and looks around the room.

Ginny, Hermione, and Ron are seated on the couch. Luna and Neville are cuddled up on the smaller sofa. Harry is in the armchair and the twins are snuggled up together on the floor.

"Jesus Ron, are you alright?" Tonks asks, seeing the dark bags under his eyes. He looks sickly.

Ron waves it off. "Yeah, just didn't sleep last night."

Tonks clicks her tongue in sympathy.

"There's some leftover pancakes for you in the fridge. We had sandwiches for lunch, if you'd like a sandwich instead," Hermione offers.

Tonks wanders into the kitchen and prepares herself a plate of pancakes. She heads back into the living room and Ginny scootches over to make room for her on the couch.

"God, these are some good pancakes!" Tonks says. Everyone smiles.

They all keep their eyes glued to the screen, but no one is really WATCHING the documentary. Everyone's minds are wandering through dark recesses in the mind.

"Christ, you guys think this is entertaining? How long have you all been watching this?" Tonks jokes dryly.

"Speak for yourself. I find dolphins extremely entertaining," Fred says sarcastically.

"Fred, these aren't dolphins. These are whales," Ginny says flatly.

"Oh. Well I find marine creatures VERY entertaining. Don't you Georgie?"

"Oh yeah! Just as entertaining as a game of Dungeons and Dragons."

They hear a 'poof' in the kitchen.

"I'm home!" Molly calls out, sounding exhausted.

She peeks into the living room, holding armfuls of grocery bags.

"Nice to see you're awake Nymphadora."

"Hi Molly. Sorry....I just had trouble getting up this morning...."

"Oh, no ones blaming you for anything dear!"

"Mum, is everything alright? You were gone a long time," Ginny says nervously.

"Yes, Ginny. Its fine. The grocery store was jam packed today! I had to wait 20 minutes just to get a trolley and enter the store! Anyway, I picked up some beef, feta cheese, and tomato sauce so I'm going to make some lasagna tonight."

"Do you need help putting away groceries?" Ron asks.

"No, I've got it dear."

Tonks gets up any way and goes into the kitchen to help Mrs. Weasley put the groceries away.

"Its raining buckets out there," Molly says with a sad sigh.

"Sure is," Tonks agrees.

"A perfect day to sleep in and stay in your pajamas all day," Molly says with a trace of a smile on her lips.

"It is," Tonks says, wrapping her arms around herself.  
************************************************Mrs. Weasley begins preparing the lasagna immediately. She needs to be preoccupied constantly, to avoid thinking about her stone dead husband and children.

Tonks offers to help her, but Molly politely declines and tells her to relax.

Everyone (besides Mrs. Weasley) stays huddled around the tv, watching boring documentaries in the dark.

The rain continues to pour.

At 6, the lasagna is ready.

"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley calls.

Everyone shuffles into the kitchen and grabs a plate.

"Your cooking is excellent, Mrs. Weasley," Harry says. Harry never had anyone cook him homemade meals, so everything Mrs. Weasley makes tastes spectacular to him.

"Thank you dear."

"Mum, are you alright?" Ginny asks.

Molly feels her strong facade chipping away under all the pressure.

"Yes dear, I'm fine. Just tired. Speaking of tired, Ron I'm going to make you some herbal tea after dinner. It should help you sleep."

"Thanks mum."

"No problem, dear. Now I was thinking," Molly begins. "that we would go look at the bodies at Harrison tomorrow. That is, if everyone here feels comfortable with that. Its alright if you don't, just speak up now."

Silence.

"Uh, well, I'll be fine but....don't we need to write an obituary for everyone?" Ron asks.

"That's right, we do. I was thinking we could all work on dad's and your brothers together," Molly says to her children. "And Nymphadora could write Lupin's."

Tonks nods. "Yes. But if any if you want to help, feel free to write a paragraph or two about Remus."

The rest of dinner is silent and everyone stares at their plate. Tonks's and Ginny's soft sniffling is the only sound.  
************************************************Around 9, people start going to bed. The house is just as eerily silent as it was the previous night.

Ron still can't sleep, even after drinking three cups of tea. He stares at the dark ceiling and trembles all night.

Harry has night terrors and wakes up in a cold sweat every other hour.

Hermione and Ginny toss and turn restlessly, feeling anxious and extremely upset.

Luna and Neville snuggle together again, both silently crying and comforting one another.

Tonks talks to Remus until she passes out around 2 AM from sleep deprivation.

The twins cling to one another again, as if something is trying to tear them apart forever.

Mrs. Weasley breaks down again the second her bedroom door closes behind her.

Its another morbid silent night in Pompeii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear from you guys. Tell me what you thought and feel free to give me suggestions!


	7. Goodbyes Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone visits the Harrison Funeral Home to say goodbye to Lupin and the Weasleys.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry guys, I know I promised to post this on Saturday. But some stuff came up and I was really busy yesterday. Anyway, I'm very sorry that its a day late, and I hope to update more frequently in the future. Enjoy!

The blood runs in thick streams across the marble floor. Harry watches it spread out and eventually dampen his sneakers.

He stares in horror. 

He hears wailing and sobbing all around him. He looks up and realizes he's in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Except the hall has blood all over the floor and dead corpses lay everywhere. Living people are there too, but they are all grieving the loss of their loved ones. 

Harry looks over to see a mother on her knees in the blood, holding her dead child to her chest and wailing in agony. Her child looks like he can't be older than 11, his Hogwarts robes in tatters and his eyes are open, looking blankly at the ceiling. Blood covers his cheeks and his legs appear to be broken, as they are splayed out in odd ways. 

Another sob comes from a young girl, clutching her still older brother to herself.  
The girl isn't in great condition herself, she has a giant purple bruise on her forehead and her arms are scratched up and bleeding. But her brothers worse, having his one arm missing, a bloody stump the remain. His body is still rigid, as if in one last spout of pain.   
She cries into his chest and tugs desperately at his Slytherin tie, in hopes of waking him up. 

"Look around you," Harry hears his own voice ring in his head. "You caused this."

A few children cry over the body of a girl, who appears to be in her 4th or 5th year. Her forehead is split open down the middle, revealing crushed bones in her skull and allowing blood to stain her unmoving face.   
"C'mon, Cynthia!" One chokes out. "Open your eyes!"

Two parents morn their children in the corner. A man mourns his wife. People mourn their friends. People mourn their siblings. People mourn their parents. Each scene is gory and horrific. Sobs of dismay fill the air and pound Harry's eardrums.

Harry covers his ears, tears streaming down his face. "You did this!" His voice screams in his head. "This is your fault! You got these people involved! These innocent lives are wasted on you! These peoples blood is on your hands, you fuck!" 

Harry watches everyone kneel down in the blood and mourn. The bodies seem to be everywhere, and the crying, and the suffering, and the blood....

"You did this! How can you claim to be the hero when you cost so many lives?! What the fuck is wrong with you!!! You did this, you selfish bastard! This is on you!" 

Harry awakes with a start, heart hammering in his chest, sweat rolling down his forehead. He pants as he sits up, and looks around at his surroundings. He's in the Burrow, in Ron's bedroom. 

"Christ," he mutters, falling back on his mattress, closing his eyes and wincing. 

"That's the second time tonight, mate" Ron says, looking down at his friend.

Harry doesn't reply, he just rolls onto his stomach and buries his face in his pillow.

"What'd you dream about?" Ron quietly asks, looking down at his flustered friend.

"Same thing as last time," Harry mutters after a few minutes of silence.

Ron sits up and watches Harry shake and fold into himself, staring at the floor.

"Do you need to talk about it?"

"I don't want to bother-"

"I didn't ask if you thought it was an ideal time to talk, I asked if you needed to," Ron says.

Harry looks up at him, squinting to make out his blurry form. Its dark and his glasses aren't on.

"Well, what about you? You were awake last time I woke up and you still are," Harry points out.

Ron sighs. "I am tired, believe me. But....its like everytime I close my eyes...."

Harry watches him with patient sleepy eyes. He reaches up and rests a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"What do you see?" Harry asks.

Ron can almost feel the kind concern wafting off his friend.  
"I see them, lying there still. I see....Dad and Bill and Charlie and Percy...."

Harry swallows a lump in his throat and nods. "I'm sorry," he says, his voice a few octaves lower than usual.

Ron looks into his green eyes. "Stop blaming yourself," he says firmly, fondness edging his voice.  
Harry smiles sadly and stares down at his lap. "I want to....but I can't."

Ron sighs. "I'll tell you a thousand more times, hell a million until you believe it: Its not your fault."

Harry smiles at him. "Try to get some sleep."

"I'll try. If you wake up again, I'll be here."

"Me too."

Harry lies back down and tries to drift back off to sleep.   
************************************************  
' "Mum! Look! I found a newt in the pond out back!" Bill announces proudly as he strides in the house. 

"He really did mum! Its all slimy and gross!" Charlie says in delight. 

Molly is busy trying to iron, make dinner, and water the plants. She groans, looking over at her older sons.  
"What, Bill?"

"Look!" Bill says, grinning. He waves the slimy green creature by its tail in Molly's face. She shrieks in shock, waking Percy up from his nap. 

"Where'd you get that?!" She scolds, grabbing the newt from Bill and tossing it out the open kitchen window.

"At the pond," he replies proudly.

"Mum, you just threw him out the window! Is he dead?!" Charlie squeaks.

Molly sighs, looking at them. "No, I just helped him get home. You don't take animals away from their habitats. Understood?"

"Why?" Bill asks.

"Because their mums and dads will miss them terribly," Molly says. "Now go wash your hands."

"What if the animal is all alone and it doesn't have a mum or dad? That newt was by himself," Bill asks curiously.

"Well, somebody loves him. It has brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, aunts, and uncles too." Molly replies with a tiny grin.

"It does? Then why was he by himself?"

"He was playing hide-and-seek with his siblings and you stole him away from his hiding spot," Molly replies, trying go make her way upstairs to calm Percy down.

"Hide-and-seek? Newts play hide-and-seek?"

"Yes, now go wash your hands," she says as she walks up the steps.

"Bill, if newts play hide-and-seek, do humans play newt games?" Charlie asks his brother.

Bill shakes his head and laughs. "No stupid! Do you know any newt games?"

"Bill, quit calling your brother stupid and go wash your bloody hands!" Molly shouts from upstairs, baby Percy cradled in her arms.'  
************************************************

Molly slowly drifts back to consciousness, taking her time to fully wake up. She lets her mind drift through fond memories, memories much happier than reality is at the moment. 

There's a knocking on the bedroom door.

"Bill, put the newt back in the pond....Ron, don't ever use that word again...Boys, this is the last time I'm telling you, no more pranks in the house..." Mrs. Weasley mutters sleepily, eyes still shut.

"Mrs. Weasley?" A quiet shaky voice calls.

"Charlie, your father will not be pleased with that new tattoo."

"Mrs. Weasley?" The voice calls again.

Molly opens her eyes, hearing another soft knock on the door. She gets out of bed, still half asleep, and opens the door. 

Neville is standing there, anxiously twitching. He's sweaty and pale as he stares at Molly with dark, sad eyes.  
That wakes her right up.

"Lord, Neville, are you alright?" She whispers, so not to wake anyone up. She reaches out and touches his forehead, checking for a temperature. 

"Y-yeah, I'm ok....but I...." He stammers guiltily, looking at the floor.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"I threw up on the bathroom floor," he sheepishly admits.

Molly nods. "Its alright. I'll go clean it up."

"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I'm really sorry," Neville says and he stares at the floor in shame.

"Honestly, its not a big deal, dear. I've had seven children, trust me, I've cleaned up nastier things," she replies with a motherly smile, making her way upstairs into the bathroom. 

Neville stands in the bathroom door and watches her clean up his vomit. He blushes and looks away, apologizing again.

"Neville, relax. Its alright. What made you sick? Was my lasagna really that awful?" Molly jokes light heartedly.

Neville smiles a little and leans against the door frame. 

"No, your cooking is really good. Although, I did see Ron pick at it....and I also saw Fred and George pick all the meat out if it...but I thought it was lovely!" 

Molly laughs. "Yes, well, since the age of fifteen, the two of them have claimed to not eat meat. Anyway, do you know what caused you to get sick? Are you possibly allergic to something I made? Or the bleach I wash the sheets in?" 

Neville blushes again and makes a little noise of discomfort in his throat.

"Well....I woke up and....I saw my Gran at the foot of my bed. It scared me and...I felt rather sick because she LOOKED terrible. All pale and....and gray and bruised...." Neville mutters, breathing heavily. 

Molly looks up at him pityingly. "Oh sweetheart... its alright now. It was just a bad awakening dream. Ginny used to get them all the time. Its just when you don't fully wake up and part of your dream still goes on. Its alright, Neville."

Neville nods but still doesn't look her in the eyes.

"Neville, are you alright?" Luna asks sleepily, rubbing her eyes and walking into the bathroom.

"I uh..."

"Oh dear, you got sick. Are you ok?" Luna asks, wrapping her arms around him.

"He's alright, just shaken up," Mrs. Weasley assures, finishing the clean up. She washes her hands and gives both of them a hug.

"I'm going back to bed, its late. If you need anything, just come wake me."

"Ok. Thanks Mrs Weasley," Neville says.  
************************************************  
"Why are you so frightened?" Luna asks Neville once they're back in bed.

"I woke up and saw my Gran at the foot of my bed. She looked awful, she was beat up and completely gray. I just...." Neville sniffles and rolls over.

"Hey," Luna says, reaching across his chest and grabbing his hand. He looks over at her. "Its ok," she assures him.

"It just really upset me, and made me scared, so I ran into the bathroom, feeling terrified and sick. Then I vomited," Neville awkwardly explains.

Luna nods and pulls him close.

"Its alright. It was just a dream," she cooes.

Neville nods and closes his eyes and drifts back to sleep as Luna strokes his hair and whispers reassurances.  
************************************************  
"Morning," Harry says with a yawn, walking into the kitchen. 

Mrs. Weasley is preparing omelets over the stive.

"Good morning, Harry. Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Harry lies and then starts to set the table.

"How about Ron? Did he sleep better?"

"Well, he's asleep right now, so compared to the sleepless night last night, yes."

Molly sigh. "Well, its better than no sleep at all."

Harry nods in silent agreement. 

"Morning," Ginny says, poking her head in the kitchen.

"Good morning, darling. Did you get some sleep last night?" Mrs. Weasley asks.

"Yeah, I slept fine mum. How about you and Harry?"

"Just fine."

"Yeah."

Ginny nods and sits down at the kitchen table, eyes looking wearily at her mother.

"So....are we going to Harrison today?"

Mrs. Weasley doesn't reply right away. She just continues making breakfast.

"Mum?"

"Yes." She answers curtly.

Ginny nods and a few tears fall onto her cheeks. 

Harry sits down next to her and grasps her hand in comfort.

Harry isn't exactly looking forward to going. The guilt is already consuming him alive. Seeing people he cared about dead is going to kill him on the inside. 

Ginny is actually somewhat excited to go. It still doesn't feel real to her, and she's trying to convince herself. She's sad and excited and scared and....a whirlwind of emotions prone to explode at any given moment.  
************************************************"How're you feeling?" Luna asks Neville the second his eyes flutter open. 

"Fine," he replies as he sits up in bed. 

Luna is digging through the closets.

"Whatcha looking for?"

"Well, I think we're going to Harrison today. So I'm looking for my black dress. When you wear black to a funeral or viewing, it shows respect to those who died," Luna explains.

Neville nods, getting up and helping her search. "If you can't find it, I'm sure Ginny or Hermione will lend you something black," Neville says.

"I know, but-A ha!" Luna says, ripping the black dress off the hanger. She smiles. "There's one victory for today," she says, setting the dress on her night stand. 

Neville smiles and pulls her into a hug, kissing her cheek. 

"Are you certain you're alright? You're shaking," Luna says.

"I'm just....nervous about going to the funeral home, y'know. Its....difficult to explain," Neville admits.

"You feel bad for everyone else and the memories of the battle seem foggy and you know that seeing the bodies again will rip the wounds open," Luna says softly.

Neville nods, his throat feeling dry and tight.

Luna hugs him, sniffling a bit herself.

"I understand. I feel a lot like you do. It's natural really, seeing people you care about upset makes you upset. And knowing that something is going to cause stress makes you dread it," Luna says sadly, a look of grief on her face.

Neville just swallows what feels like dust gathering in his throat and exhales sharply. 

"BREAKFAST!" They hear Mrs. Weasley holler from downstairs.

Luna kisses him gently on the mouth. "C'mon, lets go eat."

Neville nods and they hold hands and head downstairs.  
************************************************Everyone is woken up by Mrs. Weasley's incredibly loud voice (formed from years of screaming at seven children). Everyone gathers in the kitchen, looking sleepy and a bit worn.

"Omelets look good, mum," Ron says, laying his head on the table. He still looks exhausted, with bloodshot eyes.

"Yeah, Molly. Thank you," Tonks says.

Mrs. Weasley simply smiles and gives everyone a serving.

"So, I assume we're going to Harrison today?" Tonks asks cautiously.

Mrs. Weasley nods solemnly. "Yes, I think its a vital part to help us all heal. But if anyone here doesn't feel....ready just let me know."

No one says anything.

"I'd like to go around 2 o'clock. We'll apparate to the city, then take public transport the rest of the way," Mrs. Weasley says.

"Do we need to dress up?" Fred asks quietly, keeping his watery eyes trained on his plate.

"Yes. A dress shirt and pants with a tie will be fine. You ladies just need a dress or a skirt and a nicer top," Mrs. Weasley explains.

There's a chilling atmosphere around them all. Its cold like death and sparks with anxiety and grief. No one says anything for the rest of breakfast.   
************************************************"How do I look?" Hermione asks. She's in a pair of flats, a gray pencil dirt and a matching blouse.

"Perfectly morbid," Ginny replies with a sad twinkle in her eyes. 

"Have you found what you're going to wear?"

"No," Ginny admits, looking in her drawers and closet. "I'm thinking about my black and white dress."

"That'd look lovely," Hermione says as she brushes her hair into a bun.

Ginny looks over at her. "Uh...is it wrong that I don't want to wear that dress because I like it?" Ginny asks so quietly that Hermione can hardly hear her.

"Pardon?"

Ginny takes in a deep breath. "Is it wrong that I don't want to wear that dress just because I like it? I just don't want to wear it because then I'll always subconsciously think of it as the 'Funeral dress' and it'll make me sad. Is that wrong?"

Hermione shakes her head. "No, I get it. You don't want to ruin the dress for yourself because you'll always subconsciously think morbidly when you see it. Its not wrong, its actually quite logical."

Ginny nods and pulls out her black layered skirt and matching top to wear instead. She's already starting to cry, so she excuses herself to the bathroom.  
************************************************"I've never been in a funeral home before," Ron says.

"I have," Harry admits. "Its quiet and sedate. Everyone seems to whisper, and its almost like you can FEEL the sense of loss around you, you know?" Harry says.

"Why were you in a funeral home?"

"Dudley's uncle Randall died when we were about nine. I don't remember him at all, but I remember the funeral home. There were roses and black cloth strung up everywhere, and the people were all dressed in grey or black. Everyone looked friendly, but in a sad sort of way, like everyone smiled at anyone they passed by in the corridor because they knew they were there for the same reason. It was...odd," Harry explains.

Ron looks at his feet as he finishes getting dressed. "I still can't believe it happened."

Harry nods in agreement. "I can't either."  
************************************************  
"I feel weird wearing Charlie's clothes," Neville admits quietly.

Luna looks at him sympathetically. "It must be."

Neville sighs, messing with Charlie's-no his sleeves. This is his shirt now. He feels a bit queasy and sits down on the bed.

"You look pale," Luna says with concern, walking over to him and putting the back of her hand on his forehead to check for a fever.

"I'm just nervous and uncomfortable," he admits.

Luna gives him a hug. "You feel like half a person in Charlie's clothes, like an imposter. But you're not, Neville. Its ok," she says.

Neville swallows the nervous bile in his throat and ducks his head into her shoulder.  
************************************************  
Tonks finishes getting dressed then waits anxiously in the family room. She knows Molly is right, seeing the bodies is a step in the right direction. She knows she has to say goodbye to Remus. But she doesn't want to.  
She almost WANTS to just pretend he's on a business trip to America and live in the illusion that everything's fine. 

"That's not very healthy," Luna says quietly from behind her, twirling her moon charm necklace between her fingers.

Tonks whirls around in surprise. "Oh, hi Luna."

"Hello, sorry, but your thoughts were so loud I had to tune into them. I couldn't ignore them, they were practically screaming at me. Tonks, I know this is hard. Its so very hard, but we all need to accept that this is what happened," Luna says, looking worried. She walks over and gives Tonks a tight hug. 

Tonks stares down at the girl in silent amazement. But she does try to heed her words. Even though the truth hurts more than a gunshot to the heart.  
************************************************  
"This is going to suck elf balls," Fred says, putting his tie on.  
George sighs wearily, lacing ip his shoes. "I know, but I agree with mum. I think its important that we....you know...."  
"Get to say goodbye," Fred finishes for him.

George nods, not looking his brother in the eye.

"Georgie," Fred mutters, looking over at him. 

George doesn't look at him and sharply inhales.

"Georgie." This time his voice cracks, causing George to look over at him.   
Fred has tears in his eyes and he's staring at the scar on the left side of his head.

"Hey," George says, trying to be soothing, but he fails, looking at his brother with watery eyes.

Fred walks over to him and hugs him close. "I know I was almost gone, but that night, I was so scared when I got back and saw you.....there was so much blood Georgie..... I thought you were going to die....I just remember looking at you, lying limp on the sofa with your head bandaged and all the....all the blood on your face and neck....then later that night you had a seizure from all the blood loss...." Fred mumbles into George's shoulder. 

George sniffles, hugging his twin back. "I'm sorry. I'm also sorry that I bleed all over you that night."

Fred laughs a little and pulls back to look at him. "You're not funny."

George grins a little, tears slipping down his face. "Neither are you, you bastard."

Fred leans in and kisses him. 

"The funeral home can't be that scary, Freddie. Scary places are really eerie, and I'm here, so it should be fine," George jokes, pointing to his scar. "Get it? EARie?"

Fred laughs and kisses him again. "Honestly Georgie, we need to get you a joke book or something."  
************************************************  
Molly gets ready quickly then goes into the family room.

"Everyone ready?" She asks in tone suggesting she's not.

Everyone nods and stands in a circle holding hands and they apparate.

They snap to a subway station.

"Here we are. We need to take the Red Express Sub to the Darius Square and then we can walk the last half mile to the funeral home," Molly says, reading the subway schedule.

Molly goes to pay for tickets and everyone else sits on a grimy metal bench and waits. 

They feel terribly out of place, being all dressed up in a dirty subway station where everyone else is wearing jeans, jackets, and jumpers. 

But thankfully, they don't receive any unwanted attention. 

"Alright, here's a one-way ticket for everyone. After the funeral home, we'll just all apparate home from the restrooms. Sound like a plan?" Mrs. Weasley ask, handing everyone their ticket. 

"Mrs. Weasley, I've never rode on a sub. What is it?" Neville nervously asks.

"Its just like an underground train, Neville. Actually, its less scary than a train because its much smoother and faster," Luna explains gently, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Yes, dear. Like an underground train," Mrs. Weasley says with a nod. 

"Yeah, you've got nothing to worry about Neville, I've ridden these things tons of times. I've actually accidentally fallen asleep on one and missed my stop," Tonks says with a small smile, streaks of green appearing in her black hair.

Everyone laughs. "You missed your stop?" Hermione asks.

"Yeah, I was on my way down town for a meeting with my boss and I was drowsy. So I figured I'd just close my eyes for a bit. Next thing I know, the conductor is shaking me awake and telling me that he's at the end of his route and that he's going back to the station. He was kind though, so he went back to my stop for me."

The conversation is cut short when the big silver sub pulls up. It destinations flash across the front in bright red: Darius Square, Huntington Lodge, Terris, and Frontway Plaza. 

All the doors making an annoying screech as they slide open. People flood out of the doors, some holding bags, others looking down at their phones. They all look very busy and like they're in a hurry. 

"Alright, this is the Red Express," Mrs. Weasley says, ushering everyone inside.  
************************************************The ride is rather long and stressful. None of them really know what to say, so no one says a word. Its also still uncomfortable to be on the messy sub in nicer clothes when everyone around is dressed casually, some even look sloppy.

When its their stop, Mrs. Weasley leads everyone out the doors, handing the conductor everybody's ticket as they step out of the subway and onto the platform below. 

"Where are we now?" Ron asks.

"Darius Square," Mrs. Weasley answers, briskly striding out of the station and outside onto the sidewalk.

"Do you know how to get to Harrison from here?" Tonks asks, jogging to keep up with her.

"Yes, its actually decently close. We just need to walk down Fifth Avenue,take a left by the pharmacy, go straight until we see the coffee shop and then go left again, take a right by the florist, and then we're there," Mrs. Weasley explains.

Everyone stares at her in shock.  
"Mum, how do you know you're way around here so well?" Ron asks.

"I used to work at the bank next to the coffee shop on Tenth Avenue. I could walk these streets with my eyes closed."

The group walks behind Mrs. Weasley, since she knows where she's going. 

After 20 minutes, Harrison Funeral Home comes into sight. Its a large ivory colored building that looks mysteriously calm and elegant. The windows are all beautiful stain glass and oval shaped. 

Everyone walks into the entrance. The inside of Harrison looks the same, alluring marble floors that dully shine, ivory walls, and the stain glass windows cast filmy rainbows onto the white walls. But the atmosphere doesn't feel nearly as pleasant as the building looks. You can feel the sense of loss and grief around you. The whole place smells like flowery air freshener.

A receptionist sits at a desk in the far corner. She's dressed in black. 

"How may I help you?" She calmly asks, her voice quiet as if not to wake somebody.

"We're here to view the Weasleys and Remus Lupin," Mrs. Weasley replies, just as quietly.

The receptionist flips through her papers quickly. "Remus Lupin and the Weasley's are in Community Viewing Room 4. Its just to the left and down the corridor," the receptionist says with an expressionless face and a gentle look in her hazel eyes.

"Thank you," Mrs. Weasley says. She leads everyone down the hall.

Ginny's stomach is cramping with nerves and she's almost shaking. She looks around her and sees several people crying softly with their heads bowed in grief. The whole funeral home is riddled with an extraordinary sense of loss that's so loud its ringing in your ears.

They walk into the community viewing room. There are several open caskets. Most are surrounded by mourners, sobbing and comforting one another. 

"Mum, why don't Dad and my brothers and Lupin have a private room?" Ron asks, uncomfortable around all the mourners.

"Because private rooms are very expensive," Mrs. Weasley says softly, scanning the room for her husband and sons.

Ginny spots them and goes rigid. She gapes, her vision becoming obscured with tears. "Mum," she mouths, no words being formed.

She reaches out and grabs Fred. "What's wrong, Ginny?"

She just mouths, "Mum" again, staring.

Fred follows her gaze and freezes. He makes a choking noise and looks, unable to tear his gaze away from the corpses. 

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Weasley and George ask at the same time. 

"There over there, mum," Fred whispers. Mrs. Weasley spots them and her heart begins to ache. She nods and leads everyone over to them.

The funeral home did a good job preparing the bodies, no one would even guess that they'd died in a battle. They'd washed them clean of the blood and ash. They'd changed the bodies from their tattered clothes and dressed them in handsome blazers. 

"Oh my god," Ginny breathes, clinging to Fred.

Ron stares forlornly at the corpses of his father and brothers as tears slide down his cheeks. 

Harry feels the guilt eating him alive, burning up his lungs and twisting a knife deep into his heart as Ginny and Ron begin to sob. Neville and Luna look respectfully at their feet and Molly pulls Ginny into a tight embrace. Fred and George bow their heads and cry in silence. 

Harry feels his chest tightening up. He hears a whimper and feels wetness on his cheeks. He realizes he's crying.   
Hermione pulls him and Ron into a big hug. 

Tonks sees Lupin's casket next to Percy's. She cautiously walks over to it. The lid is shut. Her heart hammers against her ribs as she slowly lifts it up. 

She wails and lets the lid fall back down with a slam. She collapses onto her side and cries so hard she can barely breath. She can feel the ghost kneeling beside her, stroking her hair. 

She can't look at him like that again, unmoving and pale. Luna and Neville both rush over and sit beside her. Neville squeezes her shoulders comfortingly and Luna rubs her arm and says comforting nothings.

Molly stares numbly at them all. Her husband, lying still on his back. Her boys, unmoving with their eyes closed. She feels herself shaking, or maybe its just Ginny trembling in her arms. 

"I'm not losing anymore of my babies," she swears to herself, kissing Ginny on the head. "Nothing is going to take anymore of them away from me."   
************************************************  
After a few minutes, Ron gently pulls away from Harry and Hermione's embrace.

"You ok?" Hermione whispers.

Ron nods, and walks over to Bill's casket. He drops to his knees and reaches out to touch his brother's hand. 

Its limp and cold. Ron closes his eyes, and wishes for warmth and feeling to return to Bill's hand. 

"When I was little, I used to really idolize Bill," Ron says with a smile, tears running down his face in thick streams.

"He was always really rebellious and he'd never give up on anybody," George says, sitting beside Ron on the floor.

"He's with Fleur now," Ginny hiccups.

Mrs. Weasley shakily lets all of the air out of her lungs. 

"If there is an afterlife, I hope that they're having a proper wedding. One without a Death Eater attack," Fred says.

"Yeah, and Charlie, Percy, and Mr. Weasley would attend," Harry chokes out. He feels so responsible for their deaths that he can't even look at the bodies.

Hermione gives him a hug. 

Luna, Neville, and Tonks come back over. Tonks is shaking and has her face in her hands. The green streaks in her hair vanished, and it's completely black again.

"I think its good that we came here," George says, wiping his eyes.

"Yeah. So we get to say goodbye.," Fred finishes.

Everyone cries and mourns for another hour. Around 4 PM, everyone is really ready to look upon their loved ones frozen faces a final time, and say goodbye.

Tonks lifts the lid to Lupin's casket so that everyone can get a last look at him. Hermione bursts into tears and Harry bows his head in shame. Tonks leans in, and kisses him one last time.  
"I will always love you," she whispers through tears.

Ron, Ginny, and the twins hold each of their brothers hands a final time. 

Ginny says "I love you" to each of them. The twins place their hands over each ones no longer beating heart for a moment. Ron respectfully nods. 

Ginny lays her head on her father's chest and closes her eyes. "I love you dad," she whispers. "Please, please, open your eyes, dad." 

She keeps her head there, hoping so bad, so fucking bad,that he'll somehow come back to life.

Ron sets a hand on her shoulder. "Gin," he mutters.  
Ginny nods and kisses her dad on the cheek before stepping away.

Ron holds his dad's hand for a moment. "I love you dad," he says. He kisses his dad on the forehead.

The twins both kiss their father goodbye. Harry, Luna, Neville, Tonks, and Hermione respectfully nod at the corpses. 

Mrs. Weasley kisses Arthur's cold lips. She doesn't say a word as she strokes Charlie's hair and kisses his forehead. She does the same to Bill and Percy.  
Her heart is shattered.

Everyone looks at each of the corpses a final time.  
"Goodbye," Ginny whispers.  
"I'm sorry," Harry says under his breath, the knife in his heart twisting.

Everyone goes into the restrooms without saying a word. Everyone pairs off to apparate home.

Everyone is exhausted, defeated, and heartbroken. Some are numb and feel as dead as the corpses.

Goodbyes hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love getting comments from you guys, so feel free to tell me what you thought or give me suggestions.


	8. The Order of the Not-So-Sane Physiatrists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the visit to Harrison, everyone tries to heal. Rose Dedicalla finds Neville's Gran's grave and Luna starts an eccentric therapy group.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: none of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh crap, I'm really sorry! I keep saying I'll try to update more frequently and my updates keep getting farther and farther apart. I apologize, and once again, I'll try harder.

"I just, I just don't know what to do!" Ginny sobs hysterically into Harry's chest. 

Its been an hour since they've gotten home from Harrison. Everyone except for Mrs. Weasley and Tonks is sitting in the family room.

Harry really wishes that there was something he could do to make this all better. Some magical reversal spell or just something nice he could say to fix this all.

But he knows he can't bring Mr. Weasley back.  
He can't resurrect Bill.  
He can't make Charlie's heart beat again.  
He can't make breathe life back into Percy.  
He can't make Lupin awaken from the dead. 

So Harry doesn't say a word. He just lets Ginny bury her face in his chest and cry. He holds her in his arms and stares at the wall, still hoping something good will pop in his head for him to say to make all of her pain go away.

Hermione is sitting on the chair a few feet away from them, looking miserable. She has her knees pulled up to her chest and is looking pityingly at Ginny and Harry. 

Ron is sitting on the floor by Hermione's feet. He looks exhausted and worn. He has his face in between his knees and hasn't looked up since he sat down there when they got home.

Luna is sitting beside Harry and Ginny. She's stroking Ginny's back and looks upset and perplexed. She too is trying to think of something to say to drain away the sorrow, but can't think of anything. 

Neville is on the mini sofa, watching everyone with sad eyes.

The twins sit, interlocked together on the floor. Both look depressed, like they did the night after the battle when they first saw what had become of their family. 

Mrs. Weasley started preparing dinner the second they got home. She's in the kitchen, peeling carrots and skinning potatoes. She has a blank look on her face and hasn't said anything. 

Tonks locked herself in her bedroom and hasn't come out yet.

Everyone is deeply disturbed from the visit and there's a chilling and negative atmosphere in the room. The room is full of everyone's grief, sorrow, worry, anxiety, and sadness. But its not all dark. Everybody is also trying to comfort one another with hugs and soothing words. 

Hermione reaches down and sets a firm hand on Ron's shoulder. He looks up at her with glassy eyes.

"The floor doesn't look very comfortable," she whispers to him. She then moves to the left, making a bit of room for him in the armchair.

Ron awkwardly gets to his feet and collapses next to her on the chair. He snuggles up to her and starts bawling. She just hugs him close and silently sheds her own tears.

"I know, I know, shhh," she whispers, pressing the side of her face to his shoulder.  
********************************************

Tonks sits on the floor, back pressed up against the bedroom door. 

She can't even begin to come to grips with what's going on at the moment. She chokes out sobs and bites into her wrist to try and keep quiet.

She doesn't know how to describe what she's feeling. Its strong, hurts like hell, makes her feel numb, tiring, and confusing. 

Her hands quake in her lap as she slumps forward and cries harder. 

"Remus," she whispers. "Oh god Remus."

Mrs. Weasley gently knocks on the door. 

"Nymphadora," she quietly asks, leaning her forehead on the door.

Tonks doesn't reply, she just scotches away from the door so that Molly can open it.

"Nymphadora," Molly says again, "c'mon, please."

"Come in," Tonks whispers, hiccupping.

Mrs Weasley opens the door and looks in on her with pitying yet defeated eyes. 

"Dinners ready," she says with a expressionless face.

Tonks nods and clambers slowly to her feet.  
********************************************

Dinner is silent and everyone pokes at their food. Tonks excuses herself without even touching her food. Mrs. Weasley picks up her and Tonks's plates and cleans them off. She kisses all of her children, hugs Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Neville, then goes to her bedroom.

"We should all get some rest. I mean, today was really hard on all of us," Harry stammers.

"Yes, some sleep tonight is sorely needed for all of us," Luna says, patting Ron on the back as he sniffles.

Everyone bids each other goodnight and goes to their bedrooms.  
********************************************

Harry snuggles into his blankets.

Ron climbs into his bed and sighs. "Well, see you in eight hours, mate," he says.

Harry looks up at him with worry in his eyes. "Do you need to go see a doctor?"

"I HAVE to fall asleep at one point. I mean, scientifically I must fall into REM at one point. Right?"

"I guess," Harry mutters.

"Alright then, goodnight Harry. I'll just be lying here. All night. Just like I have been for the last week."

Harry groans. "We're taking you to the doctors next week if this is still going on."

"Harry, is it normal that everytime I'm about to drift off, I think about the war and my family and then I'm anxious and upset?"

"Yeah, its normal Ron," Harry says darkly, reaching up and giving Ron's hand a squeeze.  
********************************************

Ginny falls into her bed and shuts her eyes tightly. She just wants to forget everything. She wants to forget the war, forget the battle of Hogwarts, forget the destruction and death, and most of all forget her grief and sorrow. She just wants it to fade away in a dreamy haze of comfort. 

Hermione gives Ginny a hug before getting in bed. 

"I promise it'll seem better tomorrow," Hermione says aloud, both for Ginny's and her own comfort. 

Ginny looks over at her with teary eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah, it'll look better tomorrow. I promise."  
********************************************

"Today has been....really awkward. I never know what to say to grieving people, you know? Im afraid I'll screw up and upset them even more," Neville says, rolling over in bed to face Luna.

"Its actually very simple Neville. Say what you're thinking," Luna says, kissing him on the nose lightly.

Neville groans. "That's easy for you to say, you always know what to say. I just don't.....I'm an awkward guy, ok? I don't know what to do or say half the time and when I open my mouth-"

Luna cuts him off with a sweet kiss. "You're a sweet guy. You do a fine job when you don't think and do what your heart tells you to. Do you remember when we went back to my home to get my things?"

Neville nods.

"When I cried, you held me and told me it was going to be ok. You're better at it than you think," Luna says with a wink. She has tears in her eyes.

Neville bows his head into Luna's neck and closes his eyes. "Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too."  
********************************************

"I wonder what it's like to be a mortician," George says absent mindedly as he gets into bed.

"I bet its hard. You have to deal with grieving people all the time and grieving people are slightly insane," Fred replies, wiping tears off his cheeks with the back of his hand.

George looks up at him and pulls him into a tight hug. "Oh, don't cry Freddie. I know, today was terrible. Oh my god, looking at dad and our brothers.....just, Christ," He says, a quiver in his voice.

Fred doesn't say anything, he just curls closer to his twin. "I guess we're the crazy grievers right now, huh?" He says.

George snorts. "We were crazy before dark lord cult members murdered our friends and half our family."

They both smile sadly at the sudden burst of bitter sarcasm.  
"Like I said, CRAAAAZY," Fred jokes, tears forming in his eyes.

George laughs, tears freely flowing down his face. He kisses his brother and they begin to weep.  
********************************************

Tonks wakes up in the middle of the night. She shivers and pulls the blanket tighter around herself. 

"Quit hogging the sheets, Remus," she mutters, rolling onto her back. "I swear, if I knew what a sheet-stealer you are, I might've thought twice before saying 'I do'." She whispers with a silly smile. She opens her eyes, expecting to see Remus lying beside her, grinning at back at her with a bright smile that cuts through the darkness of the bedroom.

But she finds that she's the only person in the bed. 

She closes her eyes and rolls back onto her side. The sight of the empty half of the bed makes her heart ache.  
"Goodnight Remus," she mutters.  
********************************************

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Molly opens her tired eyes. She slowly sits up in bed, covering her eyes to defend against the glaring sunlight peeking in the room from behind the blinds. 

"Im coming," she faintly calls. 

She hears rustling from downstairs and the creak of the front door as it swings open. 

"What on earth," she mutters exasperatedly, slipping on her socks and walking downstairs.

"What's going on?" She asks drowsily.

Ginny rushes over to her mother and hands her a mug of hot coffee. "Morning mum," she says, kissing her on the cheek.

"Good morning, Ginny. Is someone here, I swear I heard the front door open-"

"Mrs. Weasley! Good to see you!" Rose Dedicalla shouts from the doorway.

Molly forces a smile and shakes Rose's hand. "Good to see you too."

Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and the twins are up and milling around the kitchen, pouring themselves bowls of soggy cereal and sipping hot coffee. 

"Wait a few minutes and I'll make you all something to eat," Molly calls to them.

"We're fine, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione replies.

Molly sighs and turns back to Rose. "So er, what brings you here, Mrs. Dedicalla?"

"Well, Im actually here to see Mr. Longbottom. I've located his Gran's grave."

Molly stares, unsure how to react to the news. Should she be happy because Neville will finally know what happened to his grandmother? Or should she be sad because Neville isn't being reunited with his Gran, just being introduced to her headstone. 

"Oh, let me go get him."  
********************************************

Mrs. Weasley makes her way upstairs and knocks on Luna and Neville's bedroom door.

"Neville dear, are you awake?"

Luna opens the door. "Good morning Mrs. Weasley," she greets with a yawn.

"Good morning Luna. Is Neville awake? Rose Dedicalla is here to see him."

"No, but I'll wake him. Did she find his grandmother's grave?" Luna asks.

"Yes, she did."

Luna hurries over and gently shakes Neville out of his slumber.

"Luna?" He mutters sleepily.

Luna gently kisses his cheek. "Mrs. Weasley says Mrs. Dedicalla is here. She found your Gran's grave," Luna says into his ear.

"Mmm...huh? Mrs. Dedicalla from Harrison Funeral Home?" He slurs sleepily, reaching up and laying a hand on Luna's face.

"Yes. She found your Gran's grave," Luna says, lying her hand on top of Neville's.

He opens his eyes and stares at her. He's speechless. He slowly sits up and looks over his shoulder at Mrs. Weasley.

He doesn't say a word as he wanders downstairs to talk to Rose.  
********************************************

"Neville!" Rose beams, shaking his hand. "Sorry to wake you up. Your bed head tells me you were sleeping still."

"I was, but Luna told me you found my Gran's grave. Is that true?" He asks, eyes wide in hope.

Rose grabs his hands and gives him a supportive smile. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Luna, Mrs. Weasley, and the twins watch them from the kitchen.

"Yes Neville. I looked into some files from other morgues and found that Edna Longbottom is buried in St Joseph Cemetery. Her burial was on January 3rd and she passed on December 27th, two days after Christmas," Rose says.

Neville nods. He's not sure how he feels. He's glad to know where his Gran is buried, but distressed knowing that one day soon he'll be staring at her headstone with grief welling up in his chest. 

"Thank you so much," he breathes, giving her a hug.

Rose wasn't expecting a hug, so she wobbles a bit, but hugs him back. "You're welcome honey."  
********************************************

Tonks gets her day started by contemplating whether or not it's worth getting out of bed. She then looks longingly at the photo of her and Remus on her nightstand and wonders what he would do if he had survived the battle and she had died instead. Would he totally fall apart? Be sad for awhile then remarry? Commit suicide? Get a therapist maybe?

She just lies in her bed, deep in thought. She's miserable. The only thing that brings a smile to her face is when she hears talking of Neville's Gran's grave being found from downstairs. 

She stays in bed all morning. She sees Remus's body laid up in his casket every time she closes her eyes. She hears people screaming, crying, and dying whenever she lets her thoughts wander. 

But she mostly is thinking about Remus's upcoming funeral. She's simultaneously dreading and looking forward to the emotional occasion. She knows she needs to write his obituary but she's not sure how.

Tonks has ever had to write an obituary before. But this isn't just any obituary, its Remus's. Her best friend, true love, and husband. She doesn't know what to write. Does she describe their first encounter, friendship, romance, and marriage? Talk about how much she loved him? How much she misses him? Maybe bring up why she loved him and mention how kind, docile, and goofy he could be? 

She's not sure, and she's certain this is the worst case of writers block ever.  
********************************************

Luna notices how shaken everyone is (she also notices Tonks absence) so after lunch, she gathers everyone (minus Tonks, who is still contemplating in her bed, and Mrs. Weasley, who's off running errands again) in the family room to chat.

"How are you all doing today?" Luna asks, seating herself between Neville and Ginny on the couch. 

"Im uh....tired," Ron says, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. Harry sighs and Hermione gives him a gentle kiss.

"I think I'm depressed," Ginny answers honestly, slumping against Harry heavily.

"Me too," Hermione agrees.

"I think we all are," Fred says with a shrug, as if its no big deal.

"Definitely," Harry agrees, reaching over and patting Hermione on the shoulder.

"Yes, I agree. I gathered us all in here because I think we all need some therapy. I may not be a licensed psychiatrist, but I think we can all offer each other some TLC," Luna explains simply.

"Tigers Like Cereal?" Ron asks blearily.

"Tender Loving Care," Hermione corrects, kissing the top of his head.

"Oh."

"Yes. I think we should talk about everything that's bugging us. And grieving isn't a one step process. We should gather in the evenings and discuss....well anything really. How we're feeling, what we're worried about, and how to move on," Luna says.

"That's brilliant. Like a mini therapy group," Harry says.

"Exactly!" Luna says, snapping her fingers.

"That is really smart. None of us are psychiatrists, but since we're all broken and damaged as hell, we can assemble and just talk in a big group and build ourselves back up together," Hermione agrees.

Ginny laughs. "Guys, we've already been doing this. Its sort of what friendship is built off of."

"That's true, but making this an official therapy group is fun-" Fred says.

"So we should come up with a title." George finishes.

"A title? Yeah like uh...." Neville drawls.

"The Order of Not-So-Sane Psychiatrists," Ron says sarcastically.

"I love it!" Luna beams.

"Yeah, that's bloody terrific!" The twins agree.

"I love it too. Darkly witty, yet true," Hermione says.

"Perfectly describes the group," Neville says with a smile.

"I couldn't agree more," Harry says.

"There we have it then! A fucking perfect name! The Order of the Not-So-Sane Psychiatrists has been brought together in an everlasting bond and is henceforth born," Luna proudly declares.

"I was only joking," Ron mutters. He then smiles dopily. "Damn, if I can come up with something brilliant as hell when I'm joking, imagine the astounding things I'll think up when I actually mean it!"

Everyone laughs.

"Well, lets begin our first meeting," Ginny says with a smile, excitedly giving Luna a hug.

"Before we start, shouldn't there be rules?" Hermione asks in her typical fashion.

"Alright, I suppose so," Luna says with a shrug.

"What did you have in mind, Hermione?" Neville asks.

"Er, well....I suppose.....Rule number one: This is a judgment free zone. Rule number two: What we all say is secret to only us. What we say in the order, stays in the order. We mustn't tell outsiders what we say here without each other's permission to do so. The only exception to this is if something you say is very dangerous to yourself, like if you said you were going to kill yourself. And the final rule, rule number three: We'll have a discussion director every week who asks everyone questions and shares their own thoughts last."

Everyone agrees to the three rules. 

"Alright then, lets begin. I'll be the discussion director today. We'll go in a circle counter clockwise. So, Neville, you're up first. What's up?" Luna asks.

"Well, I'm good. Im having really mixed feelings about Mrs. Dedicalla finding my Gran's grave. Im sort of happy yet really depressed about it."

"How do you feel about the visit to the funeral home yesterday?" Luna asks.

"It was really uncomfortable, you know? I didn't like how the people on the subway stared at us. I know part of it was because we were all dressed up, but I didn't realize how banged up from the battle we all are. I mean, we all still have bruises, cuts, and stitches."

"I know what you mean. I forgot how bad I looked until I used a mirror this morning and saw all the bruises on my face," Ginny says.

Neville nods. "I also felt bad for everyone that was grieving. I never know how to comfort a grieving person and....it just makes me feel really fucking guilty and like a bloody idiot for not knowing what the hell to say."

"Oh Neville," Hermione and Ginny sympathize at the same time. 

"I didn't know you felt so bad about it mate," Ron says.

"Yeah, Im awfully sorry. Don't beat yourself up over it," Harry says.

"Exactly man. Helping a grieving person is easy really-" George says.

"Just hug them and assure them it'll be just peachy in the end," Fred says.

The group goes around the circle three times. Everyone spills their guts, admitting their sorrows and worries.

After the first meeting of The Order of the Not-So-Sane Psychiatrists, everyone feels loads better.  
********************************************

Mrs. Weasley makes a big pot of chili for dinner. Her nerves are shot and she's very anxious. As she makes dinner, she still doesn't move Charlie's mug of coffee or Arthur's book off the counter. She simply works around them.

"Do you need any help mum?" Fred and George ask from the kitchen doorway.

"No, I'm fine dears," she says, turning around quickly and kissing each of them on the forehead. "Im almost done. Say, has Nymphadora left her room yet today? Its almost six o'clock! I hope she's alright."

"We haven't seen her yet today mum," Fred says, a look of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Yeah. She was in her bedroom all day," George adds.

"Oh lord, I hope she's alright. Im about to start serving dinner so....actually, could you two manage to serve everyone? Im going to go talk to her," Molly says.

"Sure thing mum," the twins say.  
********************************************

Tonks has her head under her pillow as she reruns Remus's death in her head repeatedly. Each time, she loathes herself more and more for not spotting Greyback sooner. She hates herself for letting her husband die.

"Nymphadora, are you awake?" Molly calls, tapping her fingernails on the door.

"Yes," Tonks says, pulling her head put from under her pillow.

"May I come in?"

Tonks sighs. She glances in the mirror. Her cheeks are flushed, tear stains cover her cheeks, her eyes are puffy and red, her short black hair is a mess, and she's still in one of Remus's old wrinkled plaid shirts.

"Yes," she says timidly. She knows she's a total mess.

Molly slowly opens the door. "I just made some vegetarian chili. Are you hungry? If you're not you can stay here," Molly says quietly. 

She wasn't expecting Tonks to be in great condition. No one is.

"Um....yeah, just give me a minute to....clean up a bit," Tonks mutters, walking over to her dresser and brushing her hair.

Molly nods and leaves Tonks by herself.  
********************************************

Tonks doesn't eat any of her food again. She sits at the table and mauls over what to write in the obituary. She also tries to think of what Remus would do in her situation. What would he write?

Everyone notices Tonks's absence of mind, but no one comments. They can't blame her, everyone is in a dark place at the moment.  
********************************************

After dinner, Tonks tries to go back to her bedroom, but Harry corners her.

"Hey, are you ok? None of us saw you all day."

"Yeah, just thinking. I'm.....I'm not sure what to write in Remus's obituary," she admits, leaning on the railing. 

"I could help you. I mean, I'm no expert at writing obituaries but I could try," Harry offers.

Something close to a smile tugs at Tonks's lips. "Sure. I'd love some help. But not tonight, Im just....tired," Tonks says, sniffling as she feels fresh tears sting her eyes.

Harry understands and backs off. "Sure, I get it. We'll work on it some other time."

Tonks nods and rushes up to her bedroom. She buries her face in Remus's bathrobe and sobs.  
************************************************

"I hope she's ok," Hermione comments after watching Tonks sprint back to her bedroom.

"She'll be ok, but right now she's not," Harry mutters, tears starting to slide down his nose.

"It'll be ok. We'll all be ok," Mrs. Weasley says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments from you guys make my day. So, if you have any questions or comments, leave one and I'll get back to you. If you have anything you really want me to incorporate into the story, let me know and I'll try my best to put it in. Thanks guys! I hope this was worth the wait.


	9. The Problems of 'Forgetful' Parents, Writing Obituaries, and Being Alone Too Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Neville connect with parent woes. Tonks continues to struggle with Remus's obituary and Harry is having a hard time. Poor Ron just wants a nap.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: None of these characters or locations are mine they all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling 
> 
> I also don't own 'Matilda'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you enjoy this chapter because I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it..... Enjoy!

'Hermione sits on the front porch, a good book in her lap. She's trying to read, but her neighbor's dogs are making a racket. The two bloodhounds are chained up in the yard, howling, barking, and pulling on their chains.

"Quiet down, I'm trying to read," she says with a frown, looking over at the two rowdy dogs in her the yard. They ignore her and continue howling and yowling. 

Hermione sighs and tries to focus on her book. Its an amazing book her dad bought for her, its about an ancient and barbaric kingdom in dispute due to a king's greed, a queen's wrath, a princess's love affairs, an outlaws testimony, a jester's jealousy, and a peasant's knowledge. Its riveting and intense. Hermione has been reading it all week after she gets home from primary school and finishes her homework.

"Granger! Hey!" Someone yells over the dogs' commotion.

Hermione looks up to see a three kids, two boys and a girl, from her class riding their bicycles around the block. 

"Granger! Don't you know you're not in school anymore?" One of the boys yells.

"Yeah, you're not in school! Why are you reading?" The other boy shouts.

Hermione rolls her eyes and grumbles, turning her attention back to her book.

"Get your nose out of your book!" The girl jeers, mounting her bike.

"Yeah, look at us, Granger! What you reading up on? How to get some friends?!" One boy shouts. The other two kids laugh hysterically.

Hermione clenches her fists and cranes her neck over further, glaring at the words on the pages of the book. She tries to block out the dogs barking, the two boy's insults, and the girl's shrill laughter.

"Do you have any friends besides the teacher?" The boy yells. 

"Oh, Pat, you know Hermione's best mates with Mrs. Nettles. They talk all the time and Hermione even eats lunch with her in the teacher's lounge," the other boy snarls.

The girl shrieks with laughter and the boys grin maliciously.

Hermione takes a deep breath and tries composing herself. She's not sure why, but whenever she gets overly happy, angry, or sad strange things happen. It frightens and confuses her.

"Granger, how come your parents are dentists but your teeth are horrible?"

"Yeah, I mean we can give you a pass for your frizzy hair since they aren't barbers, but your teeth are inexcusable."

The girl suddenly stops laughing and looks at the boys with shock. "Guys, that's a little harsh-"

"You might be the ugliest girl in our school!"

"You're lucky you're smart, maybe some guy will let you kiss him if you do his homework for him!"

"Guys, you're being really mean. Stop it," The girl says a bit louder.

"I think the bookworm beaver girl is going to cry," the one boy shouts excitedly.

"Well, I'd cry too if I had no friends and a face like that," the other boy says with a grin.

"Guys!" The girl snaps.

"What's wrong Shea, you wanna be friends with Granger? Is that it? You got a crush on her or something?"

"Probably. Hey Granger, maybe Shea will kiss you!"

The girl grits her teeth and shoves the one boy to the ground. "No, but this has gone to far! You guys are being dick wads! Stop!"

"Oh, Granger, your girlfriend is defending you! How sweet!" The one boy mocks.

Hermione's head is spinning. The dogs are howling and barking, the boys are jeering, the girl is shouting, and her blood is boiling as she processes the insults thrown her way.

Ugly, no friends, unlovable. She sees that the girl is now shoving the boys and yelling at them to stop, but they simply ignore her and mock her as well.

"Hey! Hey Granger!" The boys shout.

Hermione looks over at them with fury burning in her irises. She glares menacingly at them.

Suddenly, the two boys' bike tires blow out and deflate with a loud pop. They scream in surprise. The dogs suddenly stop barking and cower away in fear. A nearby robin swoops down and flaps around the boys faces, pecking at them and beating their cheeks with it's wings. They scream, drop their bikes, and run away.

The girl watches them in shock. She looks back over at Hermione. "What j-just happened?" She squeaks. Her big hazel eyes are filled with fear.

"I don't know," Hermione whispers, just as frightened.

"A-are you alright?" The girl asks.

"Yes, Im just....what just happened?" Hermione asks.

"Im not sure," the girl mutters, looking at the abandoned bicycles lying on the sidewalk. The remains of the tires are turning into black liquid and seeping into the sidewalk cracks.

"Oh my god," the girl whispers.

'Did I do this?' Hermione thinks. 'Oh no, I probably did. What's wrong with me? I've only read about things like this, it's fiction. Magic is in stories, not reality. Why am I able to do this? Maybe I really do belong in a book.'

"Im going to go make sure that mental bird hasn't killed Pat and Denny. Im really sorry. It was awful of us to make fun of you. If you don't want to eat with Mrs. Nettles anymore, you can sit with me at lunch," the girl offers.

"That'd be....nice. Thanks," Hermione says, looking guiltily at her hands.

The girl sucks in a deep breath. "Im going to go check on Denny and Pat. Uh.....see you on Monday, okay? And uh....even if your hairs not perfect, your lips look really full and soft," the girl says, blushing. She mounts her bike, and peddles off down the street.

Hermione watches her go, gently running her fingers over her lips. "They are soft," she muses to herself.

The dogs start barking again. Hermione sighs and shakes herself. 'I need to learn to control....whatever this is. I mean, I couldn't have punctured their bicycle tires and sent a bird to attack them, could I? That's impossible,' She thinks. She buries her nose back in her book, trying to banish memories of exploding bike tires and mental birds from her mind.

She looks up when she hears her parents car pull into the driveway. 

"Hello, sweetheart! How was your day?" Her mother asks running up the porch steps and enveloping Hermione in a hug.

"It was fine," Hermione lies, pecking her mom on the cheek.

Her father spies the tireless bikes on the sidewalk. He doesn't say anything. He and his wife have been noticing strange occurrences that happen around their daughter. They're scared and confused but they're trying to remain calm to help their child live as normal of a life as possible. 

"How was school?" 

"Alright. I ate with Mrs. Nettles and she gave me a short story to read over the week. She says we can discuss it when I'm done," Hermione says.

"What did you do at recess?"

"I played hopscotch with a few other girls."

"Did you finish all of your homework?"

"Yes mum."

"Good. I'm tired, so I'm going to rest for a bit. Your daddy has a present he picked up for you on our way home from work," Mrs. Granger says before giving her daughter a fond kiss and going inside the house.

"Hi, daddy."

"Hello, dear. Who's bikes are on the sidewalk?"

"Oh, some boys came by here. They were sort of teasing me and all of a sudden the bike wheels deflated. I guess they slid the wheels over a sharp rock or a glass shard on accident. Then, this deranged bird flew in their faces. It was rather frightening. They ran off," Hermione explains. "Im telling the truth, daddy. I swear! I know it sounds completely mental, by I'm not lying."

Mr. Granger is used to odd things happening around Hermione, so he believes her. "I believe you, Hermione, don't fret. Im sorry those boys teased you. What did they say? Do you know who they are? I'll call their parents and have a long discussion with them about teaching their kids not to be inconsiderate jack ass-" 

"I don't really know them well. I don't know their names, they're just in a few of my classes."

Mr. Granger sighs heavily and runs a hand through his hair. "Alright. What did they say?"

"Just normal cruel kid stuff. Insulted my looks and such. They're just jealous of my intelligence," Hermione claims, trying to assure both her father and herself.

"Kids are cruel. I'm sorry dear, you're looks are nothing to insult because you're beautiful. I have a present for you, hold out your hands and close your eyes."

Hermione obeys, closing her eyes and holding out her hands. She grins with anticipation.

"Here you are." Hermione feels a package being placed in her hands. She opens her eyes to see a small rectangle wrapped in brown paper. She carefully unwraps it to see a brand new book.

"Thank you!" She cries, hugging her father tightly.

"You're welcome. This is a special book, Hermione."

Hermione looks at the cover to see its titled 'Matilda' and that it's by Rauld Dahl.

"I read this book when I was just a little older than you and I loved it, but that's not why I want you to read it. The main character is a young girl named Matilda who is very smart for her age. Actually, she's a genius. She's a thorough thinker and brilliant beyond her years and a bit of an outcast. She reminds me of you, Hermione. You're my little Matilda," her father says with a smile.

Hermione grins and hugs her dad again. "Thank you daddy! I'll read it as soon as I'm done with this book that you gave me last week."

Mr. Granger smiles and kisses her atop her head.'  
************************************************

Hermione sits on the sofa in the family room. The room is dark besides the kitchen light that filters in. She's by herself, everyone went to bed hours ago. She runs her thumb fondly over the spines of two of her old books. 'The Kingdom of Derrant' and 'Matilda'. She smiles nostalgically at them and feels tears prick at her eyes. 

After whipping her parent's memory, she made sure to pack some sentimental objects along with her clothes. A few of the books her father bought her were some of these said objects.

Hermione whips tears from her eyes and tries to calm herself. These books remind her of her father and his kindness, consideration, and understanding. She squeezes her eyes shut.

Sometimes she wishes she could completely forget about her parents as easily as they forgot about her. It'd hurt so much less that way.

She feels warm tear droplets bead down her cheeks as she flips through the pages of her books. The familiar scent of the worn pages and sight of the ink words makes her heart skip a beat. She holds both of the books to her chest as if embracing them. She knows it's possibly the closest thing she'll get to hugging her dad. She accidentally drops one to the floor. It just happens to be 'Matilda'. The book falls open to the cover.

Inside the cover written in Mr. Granger's italics cursive is: To my own brilliant little Matilda. ❤️ Dad

Hermione bursts into tears after reading it and covers her mouth with the other book to try and muffle the noise. She shuts her eyes and her tears soak the pages of her book.  
'Life's unfair,' she recalls several people telling her before. And for the thousandth time this past year, she truly knows how unfair life can be. 

"Mum, Dad, I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect you, but I've possibly lost you forever now. I didn't want to, there was just no other way to keep you safe but...I just want to hug my mum and tell my dad I love him," she whispers, tightening get grip on the book in her arms.

She sobs uncontrollably, whispering apologies through her tears.

"Er, Hermione?"

Hermione wipes her eyes and looks up to see Neville standing in the doorway. He looks like he's been crying.

"Oh, hi Neville. Ugh, sorry, I'm out of sorts. What are you still doing up? It's awfully late," Hermione says, sniffling and trying to dry her eyes.

"Oh, I was just out on the porch. It's a nice warm late May night out. No stars out though, which is really a shame. I suppose it is late, but I wasn't all that tired and my head ached so I let Luna sleep, came down here, aaaaand now I'm rambling, right?"

Hermione giggles and sniffles again. "Yes, you are."

Neville grins and shrugs. Hermione can tell he's hiding something behind his back.  
"What're you doing up?"

"I wasn't tired, so I decided to come down here. And....I was thinking about my parents so I brought some keepsakes with me."

Neville nods. He awkwardly walks across the room with his side pressed against the wall. He grins. "Books, huh?"

Hermione smiles. "My dad used to buy me lots and lots of books. He was a big reader too."

Neville leans down to pick 'Matilda' up for her. He reads the inside of the cover and grins. "You're his Matilda. That's really sweet." He hands the book to her.

"Yes, when he gave me the book he said I reminded him of her because of my intelligence and thorough thinking," Hermione says with an a sparkle of adoration in her eyes.

Neville smiles and fidgets a little. "I know how you feel Hermione. My parents don't remember me either. Ever since they were tortured, they just sit and stare at the ceiling in St. Mungo's hospital."

Hermione looks at him. "How old were you when it happened?"

"Eight. My Gran raised me after the um....Incident. But I understand what you're going through. The most painful part is that they don't remember everything that you will never forget...." Neville says, his voice thick with tiredness and tears.

Hermione feels fresh tears in her eyes. What he said was spot on. 

"Exactly. You go on forever missing them and remembering all the good and bad times, and they don't recall a thing. It just hurts to think about it."

Neville nods and swallows. He has many horrific childhood memories of visiting his parents in the hospital..  
'Mum! Dad!'  
'Who are you boy?'  
'Are you my son? Im so sorry...'  
'He's our son?'

"Neville, you've been dealing with this for years now. Does it....does it get easier?" Hermione asks, resting her chin on her books.

"Yeah, as time goes on it gets easier. But there's always....always this void where something is missing. There's always this kick in the teeth when you think about it too much."

Hermione nods, contemplating what her friend just said. She reaches over and hugs him. Her fingers brush whatever he's holding behind his back.

"What're you holding?" Hermione asks.

Neville bites his lip and shows Hermione the picture he was holding. Its of him and his Gran. Neville looks very young in it, about 11 or 12. 

"This is going to sound really fucking dumb and mental, but I took it outside with me to talk to the picture. I had a conversation with it like I was talking to Gran, like I pretended it was her. I never....never got to properly say goodbye, and.....I dunno."

Hermione shakes her head. "No that's not dumb or crazy at all."

Neville looks her in the eye and can tell she means it.

"Its getting really late. The sun will be coming up soon. We should get some rest," Hermione says, picking up both of her books and standing.

"Ok. Goodnight, Hermione," Neville says, enveloping her in a big hug. Tears burn at his eyes.

"Goodnight Neville. Get some rest, you look god awful," Hermione says, hugging him back.

Neville chuckles. "Yeah, I look like a zombie."  
************************************************

"I didn't know you could cook," Ron muses from the kitchen table.

Harry is leaning over the stove, cracking eggs and frying them on a skillet.  
"I can cook decently. I had to make my aunt, uncle, and cousin breakfast and dinner most of the time," Harry replies.

"Something in here smells good," Ginny says, poking her head in the kitchen.

"Morning Gin," Ron says.

"Good morning."

"How do you like your eggs Ginny?" Harry asks as Ron fishes some plates out of the pantry for him.

"Oh, uh...over easy please.," Ginny requests as she takes a seat at the table. 

Harry looks over his shoulder to catch her staring at him. He blushes and looks away. Ginny groans in embarrassment. "Sorry....its just that I find a man that can cook unbelievably sexy."

Ron bursts into laughter as Harry feels his entire face and neck turn as red as the Weasley's hair.  
************************************************

"Harry dear, you did an excellent job with the eggs, but I'm sorry you had to make them in the first place. This is the second morning I haven't made breakfast for you all. Im sorry, I'm falling off the wagon," Mrs. Weasley exclaims with a groan, running a wrinkled hand through her tousled hair. 

"Its no big deal, really." Everyone assures her.

Everyone sits around the kitchen table eating eggs except for Tonks, who hasn't emerged from her bedroom yet.

"Well, today I think I'm going to plan the last bit if Remus's funeral since its in a few days. I tried to get Nymphadora in the mood to, but the poor dear is too distraught. So, if any of you need me, I'll be on the phone with Rose," Molly days before excusing herself.

Harry deeply sighs and slouches. "Im really worried about Tonks. I know that she's grieving, but its like she's keeping the rest of us away."

"Everyone handles grief differently," Hermione says with a shrug. 

"I know, but it's concerning how she hardly leaves her bedroom."

"Yeah. She's been hoarded up in there by herself for long periods of time. Im not really sure its healthy," Ron says.

"She'll come out when she's ready to come out," Luna said gently. "Its like a turtle. When scared, it hides in it's shell. If you try to force it out, it'll feel threatened and just go deeper and deeper into the shell. When the dust has settled, the turtle will emerge."  
************************************************

Its an odd day at the Burrow. Instead of almost everyone staying together all day, everyone goes off and does what they want/need to do. Mrs. Weasley spends most of the day on the phone with Rose making funeral plans. Ron attempts to get some well needed rest, but is unsuccessful and ends up in cold scared sweats whenever he tries to relax. Neville and Ginny discuss ways to make Tonks and everyone else feel better. Luna takes a personal health day to herself and leafs through her father's journal of supernatural beasts, potions, and conspiracy theories. Harry also takes some alone time to sort through his feelings. He takes a long walk through the fields around the burrow. Hermione and the twins clean up around the house a bit. Charlie's mug, Arthurs dog eared book, and Bill's wedding pictures are still left unmoved. 

Fred lays his hand on Charlie's mug and takes a sniff. "Well, this coffee is cold as iced tea. At least it doesn't reek."

"Well, its iced coffee now, Fred," George jokes.

Hermione looks warily at them. "Do we wash the iced coffee mug?"

Fred sucks on his bottom lip and George blushes and stares at his feet. "I know that its a two week old mug with gross cold coffee in it, but-"

"It just seems wrong to clean it. I mean, its like the last piece of Charlie..."

Hermione nods in understanding. "Alright. How did Charlie take his coffee?"

"Extra creamer and one spoonful of sugar," the twins say in sync, looking nostalgically at the coffee mug.

Fred rubs at his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "It seems wrong that Charlie will never finish the damn cup of coffee, and that dad will never finish this dorky book on psychology studies, and that Bill will never stare at these wedding photos with glassy eyes and a broken heart again. None of it seems ok..... They got cut off from doing every day tasks that everyone is entitled to do."

"I understand where you're coming from, Fred. They had to stop reading, sipping coffee, and lamenting over pictures to go fight in a battle," George says.

Hermione sighs sadly and looks at them. "It is awful, but if Charlie were to walk in the front door right now, would you want him to finish the cup of coffee that he was entitled to finish?"

The twins giggle. "No, if he walked in right now I'd probably faint," Fred admits.

"I think I'd piss myself," George mutters, looking cautiously at the front door.

"But after the initial shock wore off, I'd be so happy."

"Yeah, I'd hug him and sob and tell him how much he means to me and how much colder life is without him."

Both twins find themselves smiling at the thought of Charlie strolling into the burrow with a beating heart and conscious mind, but they both also feel a dampness on their cheeks.

Hermione frowns in guilt as they stand their crying and grinning. "Oh, I'm sorry! I was trying to lighten the mood with a witty remark, but I should've known you two out of all people would dissect the question and consider the realistic outcomes," Hermione apologizes, giving them both a hug.

"Its ok Hermione. Its not the first time we've wished Charlie would come home. Or Dad, Percy, and Bill for that matter," George says, swallowing the lump of tears in his throat. 

"Yeah, don't feel guilty."

"Don't pull a Harry on us."  
************************************************

The wheat dances around in the warm breeze. Harry sighs as he walks along, head down and hands shoved in his pockets. He's been out walking for awhile, he's not sure how long. He hasn't really been focusing on where he's going, he's been too lost in thought to pay attention to the earthly surroundings. 

While on this walk, Harry has dissected his feelings and rerun memories from the battle on repeat in his mind.  
The more he dwells on it, the further and further he goes into the dark, scary places in his head. 

Harry's decided that when he's on his own, he too easily divulges into these said dark areas and losses himself. He needs someone else by his side to yank him out and back into reality. So Harry starts walking back towards the Burrow, becoming afraid of the self-degrading thoughts in his head. He keeps trying to free himself from the prison that is his mind, but fails and instead he finds himself being sucked further and further into the dark spots.

'This is all your fault, bastard! How come Voldemort was after you, yet you lived and so many others died? Innocent blood is on your hands! You're a failure! You're a waste of space! You're-'

"Hey Harry. You've been gone for quite some time."

Harry bounces out of his head and looks up to see Luna standing a few yards away from him. 

"H-hey, Luna. What a-are you doing out here?"

"I took a break from my reading. Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah."

"No you're not, you're trembling," she mutters, taking a step towards him.

Harry looks down at his hands and sees that he is indeed quaking. He feels hot tears in his eyes and a sudden spell of nausea. 

"Harry? You've been out here on your own for too long. I think you should come back with me," Luna says kindly, reading his aura and seeing his train of thought.

Harry tries to breathe properly so that he can respond, but ends up chocking and coughing. 

Luna puts a hand on his shoulder and guides him back to the Burrow.  
************************************************

"You know, it is possible to be on your own for too long," Luna says softly, leading Harry up the porch steps.

Harry tries to speak again, but gags on his saliva. He feels dizzy as Luna gently pushes him into a rocking chair.

"You stay put, I'm going to get you some water," she says before disappearing into the house.

Harry rubs his teary eyes and grits his teeth to prevent a sob breaking through. The chains of guilt chaff him and his chest feels constricted. Its like he's forgotten how to breathe.

'Why were you even born? You're just as bad as Voldemort, you caused the deaths of just as many people as he did! You're a failure! A spineless bastard! You don't deserve to have a roof over your head, loving friends, and adoration. Hell, you don't even deserve to live! You should just run a razor blade over your wrists or point your wand to your head and say-'

"Drink up," Luna says, handing Harry a glass of water.

Luna frowns as Harry stares blankly at the glass, lip quivering and tears fogging up his glasses. 

"Hey," Harry looks up at her. "Its ok," she assures him, placing a comforting hand on his knee.

Harry swallows before lifting the glass to his lips with shaky hands. The cool water feels heavenly as it runs over his sore tongue and down his throat.  
His lungs seem to remember how to fill with air and release it again. His chest loosens up and Luna's comforting touch frees him from his mental imprisonment. 

"Thanks," he mutters, closing his eyes and rubbing away tears.

"Are you alright now?"

Harry nods. "I guess.....I guess I was just by myself too long. I had too much time to over analyze things."

Luna nods. "You had too much time to destroy yourself without someone there to fix you," she says gently. She leans forward and hugs him.

Harry closes his eyes and embraces her. "Are these thoughts I'm having normal?"

"You've been through a lot, Harry," Luna replies. 

Harry sighs and nods. There's a comfortable stretch of silence.

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

"I'm afraid to be alone."  
************************************************

"Hermione?" Ron calls, fear in his voice. He's lying on the sofa, still trying to sleep. Horrible images and memories cloud his mind. He feels alone, vulnerable, and scared.

Hermione is sitting in the chair a few feet away, reading. She looks over at him with a worried expression "Are you ok?"

"No," he replies simply. He's so tired, every muscle in his body aches and his head is killing him, yet his mind is a hurricane of grief and fear.

Hermione kneels beside him and tentatively runs a hand through his hair. "Just try to relax, you're overly tired."

Ron tries not to cry. He's so frustrated. He just needs to let go of all the baggage for awhile and.....sleep. "Im trying, I'm really trying to. 'Mione, I just....I keep seeing it."

"Seeing what?"

"Everything! The people dying, the violence, the fire, my family, everything!" He says, tears starting to form in his eyes.

Hermione feels her heart break for him. "Shhh....shhh....I know, I know. Its going to be ok," she insists gently, lying next to him and pulling his body close to her.

"I think something's wrong with me. I can't sleep, I can barely relax....everytime I hear a hissing noise I think its that bloody snake, everytime there's a loud noise I think its an explosion... I watched Pansy Parkinson die. She was standing in front of me, a girl I'd never been fond of but known for 6 years, and then she was shot down with a killing spell. Lavender was bit by Greyback right in front of me.... All these people I knew, I watched them take their last breaths....Something's wrong with me...."

"Nothings wrong with you, Ron. Something's wrong with the world," Hermione whispers, kissing the top of his head.

'He has PTSD. Oh god, he has PTSD. Its from being cornered by the snake, and being trapped in the cellar as it was lit on fire. Its from the death and destruction.' She thinks sadly.

Ron curls up in her arms and begins to sob. 

"Its ok, shh, it'll be ok," Hermione mutters, tears running down her cheeks.

Ron Weasley, who used to be carefree and laid back, has been turned into a paranoid wreck. The battle took a big piece out of him, a piece Hermione hopes she can replace.

'Its not just Ron,' she realizes. 'It took a chunk out of everyone.'  
************************************************

Tonks mopes around her bedroom all day, wearing nothing more than Lupin's bathrobe. She's hunched over her desk, quill in hand. She's trying to write the obituary but she's not having any luck. 

'What do I write? About the hole he left in my heart? Our mutual love and understanding? How his death was my fault?' She wonders, tapping the quill absent mindedly.  
'I wonder how everyone else is feeling. Earlier this morning I heard Molly on the phone. Shit, was she planning the funeral? I should've done that, she didn't need to go to all that trouble. She's so kind. Maybe she'd be better at writing this obituary. Ugh! I give up on writing this! Calm down, Tonks. Get a grip. Go get some air then try again ,' she thinks as her mind wanders.

Tonks awkwardly stumbles down the stairs and into the living room. (her legs are funky from not being used very much in the last few weeks).

She spots Ron and Hermione curled up on the sofa together, both sound asleep. Tonks does her best to walk quietly out, so not to disturb them.

She heads into the kitchen to fix herself a sandwich. As she spreads jam on bread, she peers out the kitchen window to see Ginny, Harry, Neville, and Luna all sitting on the front porch. Tonks can't tell what they're saying, but she can faintly hear their tones. Whatever they're discussing, it sounds sad and all of them have a forlorn look on their face.  
************************************************

"Neville, you don't need to worry," Ginny says.

"Yes, there's no need to be anxious. You don't have to see your Gran's grave until you're ready," Luna adds, kissing him on the cheek.

"I know, I just feel bad about it. Its like there's already a shit storm of stuff going on, and my Gran's grave just adds to all the commotion."

"Neville, trust me, its nothing to feel guilty about. I had this episode today in which all I felt was an overwhelming sense of guilt and liability. You can't let it control you," Harry says.

"I know, its just-"

"Nothing. Nothing for you to worry about Neville," Ginny assures him.

Neville nods. "You guys are right. Thanks. Without other peoples input, I tend to get overwhelmed."

"Do I know how that is," Harry mutters, gripping Ginny's hand tighter.

"Hello everyone."

"Hey, Tonks! How are you feeling?" Ginny asks.

"Well, Im alright. I was just trying to write this damn obituary. Do any of you have any ideas for me? Im not sure how to start it. Or end it.....or what to write about either."

Everyone laughs then ponders it deeply

"Well, I don't really know either. I suppose you should write about how much you loved Lupin. You know, like what he meant to you and how much you loved him," Neville suggests shyly.

"Yeah, that's good but I don't know how you should start it either," Ginny says. "Maybe start it off by listing some of Lupin's personality traits."

"Oh, that's a creative idea!" Luna says with a smile. "Tonks, you don't need to follow a format. Write what you feel in your soul."

Tonks rubs her temples and smiles. "You all frazzle my brain a bit, but I like the ideas."

Harry stands up. "Do you remember my offer the other day? Im still willing to help you if you want some assistance from a co author."

Tonks smiles. "Sure."  
************************************************

Harry flops over on the bed as Tonks seats herself at the desk.

"I liked Ginny's idea on how to start it," Harry says. "It would be cool to list some of Lupin's admirable traits."

Tonks nods. "Yes, well, Remus was generous, gentle and....kind and funny. He was sweet and considerate and loving too. Oh, and he was such a goofball sometimes! Haha! And... He was reflective too. And philosophical."

Harry smiles. "That's a good list to build off of. Now try combining it."

"So...'Remus Lupin was not a simple man. He was complex with several different but beautifully unique sides. He was generous, loving, kind, and gentle. St times he was an outright goofball and at others he was thoughtful and reflective.' Hows that?" Tonks asks.

"I think its brilliant," Harry says honestly.

Tonks smiles to herself. "Thank you. Hey, Harry, do you want to speak at Remus's funeral?" 

Harry bolts up into a sitting position and stares. "You want me to speak?"

"Oh no, don't feel pressured to do it! I understand if you don't want to-"

"No, I want to. Im just....well I'm honored," Harry says, smiling. Then the guilt creeps back into his mind.

'Honored? He's dead because if you, you moron! You're speaking at a funeral for a man you indirectly killed!'

Harry feels the smile drop off his face. He curls up on his side and closes his eyes, giving in to his inner demons.

Tonks notices the sudden almost bipolar change in mood. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just tired."

"No you're not. Harry, I've been 'tired' for the last couple of weeks. Its a feeling we use to cover up or distort our emotions. What's eating you?"

Harry feels like he could cry any minute. "I just....I feel personally responsible and its like I'm speaking at the funeral for a man I killed."

Tonks stares at him. "Harry, you didn't kill Remus."

"I feel like it. Tonks, I feel like I might as well have slaughtered all of those people who died in the battle with my own two hands. Its....the guilt is consuming me like a bloody disease. Whenever I'm alone, my mind plummets into this really dark, guilt stricken area..... On my walk today....I upset myself so much I could hardly breathe. Luna found me and walked me home. She said I need to forgive myself-"

"Luna's right. Harry, I blame myself for Remus's death and I've been trying to stop thinking that way. You need to stop to."

Harry sighs. "Easier said than done."

"Trust me, I know. But....I'm telling you personally, friend to friend, nothing that happened was your fault."

"Lupin's death wasn't your fault either," Harry says.

Tonks swallows thickly. "I keep trying to tell myself that everyday. Its just....if I had spotted Greyback sooner..." Tonks feels tears prick at her eyes. 

Harry looks at her, a grin stretching across his face. "Write about that! Tonks, its a perfect balance of what Neville and Luna said! Write about what he meant to you while not sticking to a cookie-cutter, bland format!"

Tonks smiles as more tears well up. Her quill scribbles furiously as Harry paces around, spitting out more ideas.

She's never been so thankful for her sensitive emotions.

**Author's Note:**

> Questions? Comments? Feel free to ask :D


End file.
